Is It Really You?
by LilyPrincess
Summary: I'm starting to revise the chapters. The first one is finished, feel free to check it out. Your ordinary Lily and James, childhood friends, one moves away... what will happen?
1. Goodbye

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. Anything that is not familiar is mine.

* * *

Life passes quickly. Everyone goes through the same things as others. Everyone.

First, our parents raise us, hoping against hope that we will turn out to be fine, honorable human beings in this world.

We grow up. We face trials and tribulations just like anyone else. We make friends, wondering how close you will be to one another in twenty years. If you're lucky, you find a group of friends that touch your heart so deeply, it alters your views on life.

We fall in love. To the foolish, Love is a category of indifference. To the wise, Love is Life. Everyone in passed years has fallen in love with one person. Their special someone. When that happens, you feel like you're actually the _reason_ this world was made…so you could meet your other half. You feel like everyone should be celebrating for your fortune and luck, for you have found the meaning of life!

…of course, in reality, life isn't like your dreams. People are too interested in their own good fortune and luck to give yours so much as a passing glance. You falling in love isn't too significant, right? After all, _everyone_ falls in love…

I'm here to tell you that those who believed the last paragraph up above were sorely mistaken. There are so many flaws in that paragraph, that no one should find any humor whatsoever in it. No matter how ordinary it may seem, each and every occurrence of Love is precious and unique.

One occurrence in particular stands out greatly. This story of falling in love is magnificent. Through tough obstacles, against the odds, two very exceptional people manage to find love and hold onto it as though it were their reason for being. And that newfound love will turn out to be the very thing that helps save thousands of lives.

Through the next assortment of chapters, follow along as the tale of James Potter and Lily Evans, with the always faithful Marauders as well, unfolds into an epic saga of breathtaking proportions. Brace yourselves, this is going to be a long ride.

* * *

It was a peaceful morning in mid-July. The sun had barely shown off its lovely potential, yet the day was radiant. The birds were singing lovely tunes in the large apple trees grown on either side of Maple St. This particular street was the picture perfect image of old television series. The milkman was whistling an old melody whilst people walked out of their houses into their cars, dressed sharply in suits and dresses, ready to start the day off at work.

If you concentrated hard enough, you could just breathe in the faint smell of pancakes and eggs and fresh squeezed orange juice, coming from more than a few kitchens. A perfect world, you might say.

Well, at least it was perfect for two little six year olds that were currently playing tag on one of the said houses' front lawns. If you were familiar with this neighborhood, you would think nothing of it. It was as normal to see the two outside all day long everyday just as you would see a rainbow after a rain shower.

Ever since the Evans moved into the house 3 years ago, Lily Evans (a sweet, fragile, redheaded child with bright green eyes and the palest skin you've ever seen) and James Potter (a short, skinny little boy with intelligent brown eyes holding a mischievous glint in them and messy, unkempt, jet-black hair) have been the best of friends. You would never see one without the other. Two peas in a pod, if you will.

Currently, in the house of the lawn the two little ones were playing on, two women, Mrs. Rose Evans and Mrs. Anastasia Potter, sat talking and sipping tea. They, too, were very good friends since the family moved in. Normally, they would have pleasant conversations. Today was not the case, though.

"Oh dear. When?" Rose asked, worry and disappointment evident in her voice.

"Two weeks." Anastasia sighed, "Unfortunately, we won't be coming back for quite some time. Harold's business, it seems, needs him as soon as possible for Lord knows how long." She got up, and looked out the window, watching as her son laughingly tapped little Lily on the shoulder, excitedly crying out, 'You're it!' She swallowed sadly, "This will change their lives greatly, I'm sure."

"Yes, it will." agreed Rose, from her seat. "It is such a shame. Have you told James yet?"

"No, not yet. Harold and I plan to tonight at dinner. Then we'll let James tell Lily." she said, sitting back in her chair. She looked over at Rose, "Unless you'd like to be the one to tell her."

"Oh, no," Rose shook her head, "I think she'll take it better if James tells her. They've always been so close, you know."

* * *

Two weeks later

Lily and James were hidden away in the secluded tree house in the backyard of the Evans' residence. Lily's father had built it for them a year ago. It had always been their haven, a place where they felt safe and free.

James' eleven year old sister, Melanie, was over at her best friend's house saying goodbye, and Lily's older sister, Petunia, was upstairs in her room listening to music, quite loudly. Lily's father was at work (he said his goodbyes before he left), and Lily's mom was outside in the Potter's driveway saying goodbye to James' mother and father.

"James. I don't want you to go" Lily said, tears starting to fall down her cheeks. James looked at her, hopelessly. He wanted desperately to comfort her; he had always been so protective of her.

It started back when they were four, the time a bully named Severus Snape moved in across the street. He remembered that day so clearly. They had both been outside; Lily was sitting on the porch in the shade watching James play in the mud that had been formed by last night rain storm. Suddenly, a greasy looking kid that appeared to be about their age came up to Lily and started picking on her. Lily had been near tears when James saw all of this of course and walked angrily up to the jerk. He pushed him roughly, making Snape trip over his own leg and fall to the cement. Snape had cried like a baby and ran back to his house. Since then, angry glares were often thrown their way whenever they crossed paths with the unpleasant lad.

Now, 2 years later, James was completely clueless. He couldn't knock down some bully and make Lily feel better. This was out of his control.

He sighed sadly, "I know. I don't want to go either. I wish my dad wasn't an auror." As soon as the words left his mouth, he wished he could have taken it back. He mentally kicked himself.

Lily looked up at him, confused, "What's an auror?"

Brain working fast, James said the first thing to come into his mind, straining to keep his voice calm. "Uhh... no, I said author. I wish he wasn't an author." Luckily, it worked.

Lily nodded and said in a whisper, "Oh, so that's what your daddy does."

They sat and solemnly talk to each other until James heard his mother calling him. "Alright, mom, I'll be right down," he turned back to Lily and hugged her tightly.

"James, please don't go. You're my bestest friend." she tried, desperately, gripping him all the tighter.

"I know. You're my bestest friend too, Flower." he said, using her nickname. "But I have to go. Don't worry. We can always write to each other. And who knows, maybe one day, I'll be back."

"(Sniff) ok James. Bye" she whispered the last word

"Bye."

And Lily watched as her best friend drove away with his family from his driveway. Drove away from Maple Street. Drove away from their city, their country....drove away from his best friend.


	2. Familiar Faces

5 years had passes since that sad day for Lily Evans. That means 5 years to mature. 5 years to grow. And 5 years to forget. Now Lily hadn't totally forgotten about her old neighborhood friend. The memories of him had simply hidden themselves in the back of her mind.  
  
2 years after the Potters had moved, Lily and her family moved as well. They were now currently living in a mansion sized house in London. Two weeks ago was Lily's 11th birthday. They had planned on going out for a nice family dinner that evening, but they received a bigger surprise. When Lily awoke that morning, she was startled to find an owl sitting on her desk, staring at her. Now two weeks later, Lily and her parents were getting ready to check out a place called Diagon Alley.  
  
Lily's older sister, Petunia, who was now 16, had got even more annoying if possible. If she wasn't calling Lily a freak, she was avoiding her in fear that Lily may curse or hex her. The latter Lily didn't mind though. Petunia had always been jealous of Lily's charming personality and stunningly beautiful looks.  
  
Though Lily may only be 11, she was quite the beauty. With her waist- length, wavy, auburn hair and sparkling mischievous emerald eyes, it was hard not to be jealous. Her porcelain skin was speckled with freckles that gave off a sense of preciousness. Lily was the apple of both her parents' eyes. She was always kind to people no matter what. She was outgoing and always charmed her father and mother's friends and business associates with her wonderful personality. Despite all this, though, Lily was a great prankster. She loved adventure and would constantly keep her parents young with all pranks she pulled.  
  
"Lily, princess, are you ready to go yet?" her father called up the stairs.  
  
"Yes daddy. I'll be right down." she called back from her room, where she was currently slipping on her green flip-flops. She was dressed in an emerald green spaghetti strapped tank top that matched her eyes. She was also wearing black capris and her hair was flowing down her back. With one quick look in the mirror, she bounced happily down the stairs.  
  
Her father looked up and smiled. Lily's mother was in Rome on a business meeting so she wouldn't be able to come with and Petunia simply refused to come at all. So it was just Lily and her father to set off and look for this maybe made-up place called Diagon Alley.  
  
"We'll stop and get some lunch afterwards, ok?" her father said.  
  
"Ok" and with that they walked out into the car and started to drive to downtown London. They were driving around for about 20 minutes, and had yet to see a place called the Leaky Pub.  
  
"Maybe this was all a hoax. Do you think?" Lily said, skeptically.  
  
"I don't know. It might be. Let's drive around just a little longer. If we don't see it in ten minutes then we'll head on home." her father said, still keeping a look out for the pub.  
  
"Ok." Lily said, staring out her window. "Wait! There it is. The Leaky Pub, right there." she shrieked.  
  
"Oh yes... there it is. Could have sworn...not there a minute ago..." her father muttered to himself.  
  
After they had met Tom, the bartender, and he had shown them into Diagon Alley, and told them about Gringotts, Lily and her father were staring at the wizardry version of a mini-mall, in awe.  
  
"Wow." Lily whispered.  
  
"Yeah. This is amazing." her father said quietly.  
  
After 30 minutes, Lily had gotten her wand ('quite a strange experience', Lily thought), and she had gotten her books. All that were left was utensils and her robes.  
  
"Ok Lily. You can go and get your school robes while I look around for a shop that sells quills and parchment. Meet me in 2 hours at...at...how about that ice cream parlor over there. " He said, pointing to a building. "You can spend some time looking around at the different shops if you have time. Here," he handed her a handful of coins," buy a couple of fun stuff while you're at it. I know how much you like those sorts of joke, prank, thingies."  
  
Lily giggled. Then she took the coins from him and said, "Got it. 2 hours at that building right over there."  
  
Lily walked into the robes store and was suddenly overwhelmed at the sight in front of her. Hundreds of robes and dress robes of all different colors and sizes were hanging up on racks. A lady probably in her mid 40s came up to her.  
  
"Hello. May I help you, young lady?" she said, cheerily.  
  
"Yes, I need some school robes." Lily said timidly.  
  
"Ahhh. Hogwarts?"  
  
"Yes"  
  
"Well then, come right this way and we'll get you fitted." the lady said as she led Lily into a room.  
  
20 minutes later, Lily came out of the shop with a couple of sacks in her hand. Since she had and hour and forty minutes to spare she decided to head into a fun looking store called Zonkos (a/n- I know that shop is at Hogmeades, but I just wanted it hear.) Upon entering, she was immediately aware of the smell of something nasty. (a/n- dung bombs) She looked around at the different items on the shelf and was quite intrigued with the Exploding Snaps and some kind of green goo. Lily heard the doors to the store open and also heard the sound of about 3 or 4 boys laughing and joking around. Lily just continued to look around for different items. When she was done with her purchases, she walked out of the store. ================================================================   
  
Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and James Potter walked around Zonkos, stocking up on supplies their first year at a new school. Sirius was a tall boy, well built, and had longish brown hair with blue eyes. Remus was a little shorter than Sirius and he had light brown shorter hair with grayish-blue, caring, gentle eyes. Peter was a short, stout, chubby boy with light blond hair and beady, watery blue eyes. James had, like Lily, grown up over the last 5 years. He could have been Sirius' twin, if not for his jet-black, messy hair and chocolate brown eyes, framed by his wired-rimmed glasses. All the boys, with the exception of Peter, were all very good looking for their age. You could already tell they would be a very popular bunch at Hogwarts.  
  
After James moved 5 years ago, his family and he went to live at the place they were staying at even before they lived next to the Evans'. James, like Lily, couldn't really remember his childhood friend all that well. He almost never even thought about that part of his childhood. When he went back to his original hometown at Godric's Hollow, he met his parent's old friends and their children, Sirius and Remus. Not long after that, the three met up with Peter when he moved in. Today, they are still as strong of friends as ever before.  
  
"Oy Jamsie!" Sirius called, looking at some dungbombs.  
  
James walked over to him. "What is it, Sirius?" he asked.  
  
"I'm gonna go and buy these and then I going to the candy shop across the street. When you and Remus and Peter are done, meet me over there." Sirius said.  
  
"Alright." James stated as he walked off. ===================================================================   
  
Lily had just walked out of Zonkos when she suddenly bumped into someone.  
  
"Umph." she said as she fell over, her packages dropping to the ground. Her head bent as she picked them up, she said apologetically, "Sorry about that. I guess I'm just in my own little world today." she got up, still not seeing the person's face and started to walk off when she heard the person speak.  
  
"You should be sorry. Filthy mudblood, now I'll have to wash my robes again." the voice said.  
  
Lily whirled around, insulted. She didn't know what the term 'mudblood' meant, but the way he said it stung her a little. She glared up at a boy no more than her age.  
  
"Listen, I said I was sorry. Look, you didn't even get your packages knocked over so no harm done."  
  
The boy continued to glare at her, not saying anything. Lily continued to look at him. He looked so familiar to her, but she couldn't place where she had seen him before. The boy had greasy hair, with a hooked nose and very black eyes. Her eyes widened in surprise. 'Greasy hair...' She suddenly laughed, disbelievingly.  
  
"Snape!" she said, rudely. She hadn't seen Severus Snape in 3 years, since she moved. He had still been as dumb as ever when she left. Now three years later, she realized he hadn't changed a bit from the first time she met him, when she walked up to her and started to pick on her. After that day, though, he never picked on her, or spoke to her, again. Lily couldn't recall why he didn't continue to tease her, it was a blank.  
  
Snape looked at the girl in front of him. He would admit, she was quite pretty, but something about her. He just didn't like her. For some reason, he hated her. She looked familiar to him, though. 'Red-hair? Hmmm. and green eyes?'. Then he realized. There was only one person who had that green of eyes and red of hair.  
  
"Evan?" he said angrily. He glared, if possible, harder at her. She had stopped laughing by now. She had raised one of her eyebrows, smirked slightly and said, "Well well well. Severus Snape. Long time no see, eh?"  
  
"Too bad it didn't last to long, mudblood." he growled.  
  
She glared at him, "Trust me, Snape. The feeling is more than mutual.". She wouldn't sink so low as to ask him what a 'mudblood' was since he was obviously insulting her.  
  
"This is just great. The amazing duo will be together again. You both had better watch your backs, Evans. If you know what's good for you." he said, threateningly advancing on her.  
  
She stared to tremble slightly. Even though she would never admit it, she didn't do well with confrontation. And Snape was a lot taller than her, since she was short for her age. Just when her back was almost touching the wall and Snape was still moving forward, she heard another voice behind Snape.  
  
"Oh Snapey. Bothering a young lady are we. Didn't your mother ever tell you, if you want girls to like you, don't talk to them because you'll probably just get them all dirty with all that grease in your hair?"  
  
Snape whirled around and glared at the new person. "Black." he said in a low voice.  
  
Lily stepped on her tippy toes and looked over Snapes shoulders. Standing right there was, in Lily's opinion, one of the cutest boys she had ever seen.  
  
"That's right Snape. Now get out of here before I make you get out of here. And you know how I don't like to use violence in front of ladies." he said, looking over at Lily.  
  
"I'd like to see you try, Black." Snape said, stepping forward.  
  
The two boys were about the same height. Though the other kid, not Snape, was slightly more built. Lily was thinking that this will all cause a big scene right in the middle of the street. She covered her eyes, waiting to here the fighting, when she heard other voices.  
  
"Hey Sirius I thought you were going to-... oh it's you, Snape." Lily lowered her hands and saw three other boys standing beside Sirius, who looked ready to kill. One had light brown hair with gentle blue eyes and was glaring at Snape, the other one was short and plump and looked incredibly frightened, and the last one, the one who spoke, had messy, jet- black hair with chocolate brown eyes, framed with glasses. She decided he looked the cutest of all of them. And, he even looked a little familiar to her, but that thought was pushed aside as they continued to speak to each other.  
  
"Well well well, if it isn't Potty and his loyal companions. Here to start something?" Snape said.  
  
"Snape, you better get out of here." the light brown hair boy said, quietly.  
  
"And why should I?" Snape said, forgetting about Lily for the moment.  
  
"Not much of a thinker, are you? Four against one? Well if you're up to starting your school year off a little late on account of being in the hospital, fine by me." the one with glasses said.  
  
Snape glared at all of them, then turned back to Lily, who had pressed herself all the way against the wall.  
  
"Would have figured he'd be the one to save you. History always repeats itself. Better watch your back this year." he said, loud enough for them all to hear. He stared at her a moment longer, then raised an eyebrow and walked off, shoving the one with glasses with his shoulder.  
  
The four boys watched the retreating figure's back as he stalked down the sidewalk. Then they all turned back to the pretty, petite red head.  
  
"You alright?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Yeah I'm fine." she said, timidly.  
  
"What'd Snape want with you?" the one with light brown hair asked, gently.  
  
"Oh. I accidentally bumped into him on my way out of Zonkos and-"  
  
"You were at Zonkos? So were we!" the fat short boy said, stupidly.  
  
The other three turned to him, disbelievingly. Peter could be so dumb at times. Lily stared at him, brows furrowed and said, "Yeah. Well anyway, I bumped into him, I apologized, and I started walking off, then he insulted me, I guess, and I started to argue with him. Then I realized, he looked so familiar. That...greasy hair and the hooked nose. He looked like a kid who I used to know a while back. Well then, anyway I said his name and started to laugh. He always was a big git! That's where you found me. So how do you know him?" she asked.  
  
"Our parents all work in the ministry together. All four of us, " Sirius pointed to his friends, "know each other since we all live on the same block. Jamsie-boy here has known Snape the longest though." he added.  
  
"So Jamsie, how do you know him longer?" she asked.  
  
"Oh I used to live on his street. And it's not Jamsie, it's just James." James said.  
  
She looked confused for a moment. 'he used to live on our street?' She decided to continue on, despite her confused feelings. "Sooo. You all know each other. What are your names?"  
  
"Oh yeah. Sorry about that. My name is Remus Lupin, he's Peter Pettigrew. That there is Sirius Black and he's James Potter."  
  
'James Potter? James... Potter?... why does that sound so familiar?'  
  
"What's your name?" James asked. James also thought she looked really familiar. 'Red-hair, green eyes... red-hair, green eyes...'  
  
"Hmmm? Oh I'm sorry. I'm so rude. I'm Lily. Lily Evans." 'Lily Evans. It sounds so familiar. Where have I seen her before?'  
  
"Well I better be going. My dad's waiting for me. I'll see you at Hogwarts I guess. You're in first year too, right?"  
  
"Yeah. See ya later, Lily." Remus said as she walked off. He turned and looked at his friends. "She seems nice, doesn't she?"  
  
"Yeah. And she's really hot." Sirius said.  
  
Remus rolled his eyes, "There's Sirius for ya. Always the romantic." he said sarcastically.  
  
With that, the four friends walked off, laughing and joking as usual. 


	3. A Trip To Platform Nine and Three Quarte...

2 weeks later~*~*~*  
James was sound asleep in his king sized bed at the Potter Estate. That was when his older sister, Melanie, came bursting in his room, throwing a bucket of water on his head.  
  
"M-Melanie!!!!" James sputtered, shooting straight up in his bed, his eyes wide.  
  
Melanie just raised an eyebrow at him and shrugged, saying in a patronizing voice, "Now now little brother. This has been going on for years and you still act surprised every morning you wake up dripping with water? tsk tsk.".  
  
James just glared at her. The sixteen year old in front of him would be also attending Hogwarts this year, starting her 5th year. Even though James hated to admit it, his sister was really cool. She was very lenient whenever she had to baby-sit James and his friends back when they were younger, letting them do whatever they pleased just as long as she could help out with their pranks.  
  
Melanie had shoulder-length silky brown hair with chocolate brown eyes just like her brother's. She was pretty, just not supermodel pretty. She had wired-rimmed glasses as well, making her look a lot smarter and more mature.  
  
James looked over at his clock and groaned. "Melly!!! Why'd you get me up so early?" the clock on his nightstand read 9:00. Melanie shook her head in amazement. James really was one of a kind. He was acting as though she woke him up at 6 instead of 9. AND he forgot what day it was.  
  
"James, dear. Fall back asleep if you want. I'll tell mom to let you sleep in, alright?" she said, sweetly.  
  
James grinned at her. 'Gosh, how dumb can you get?' she asked silently. She smirked at him and walked to the door. "Sweet dreams, Jamsie!" she said over her shoulder. All she got in return was a snore, telling her he had already fallen back asleep. Once she got outside his room, she started to laugh, hysterically.  
==================With Lily=========================================  
  
Lily was already up by 7 o'clock. She was so excited she could hardly stand it. Despite her protests of being to anxious to eat, her parents made her sit down and eat a big breakfast their cook, Grace, had made as a going away banquet.  
  
It was now 10 o'clock. The train Lily was supposed to take would be leaving at 11 o'clock sharp. She had taken a shower, dried her hair and straightened it, making it longer going down all the way to her waist. She was dressed in light green spaghetti strapped sundress with tan colored sandals. She was wearing no makeup on account of one: she was only eleven; she didn't need to impress anyone. And Two: she was pretty enough that she didn't need it.  
  
"Lily dear. It's time to go." her mother's voice called up the staircase. Lily's father was on a business meeting this time, so he wouldn't be coming with, but he said goodbye last night and promised her a surprise when she came back for Christmas to make up for it. Petunia was being forced to come.  
  
Lily bounced down the stairs, more excited than she was when she was going to Diagon Alley. 5 minutes later, her trunk was packed into their car and her mother, Petunia, who had a permanent scowl on her face, and Lily herself were all on the way to the train station. It took them 40 minutes to get to the station. By now, it was 10:45 and the Evans' couldn't find the platform!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~With James~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!" James screamed, jumping out of bed. Three thoughts kept repeating themselves in his head, 'Hogwarts... 10:30... Kill Melly!!!' He rushed into the bathroom, took a quick shower and pulled on a deep green shirt that wasn't buttoned up with a white shirt underneath. He had on kaki jeans and was pulling on his shoes while rushing down the steps, into the kitchen.  
  
"Muuuuummmm... why didn't you wake me up???" he whined.  
  
James' mother looked up from her breakfast, puzzled; "Melanie told me you were already awake." she glanced over at Melanie, who was trying to not snort into her oatmeal while trying to hide her face from her mother behind the flower centerpiece. "Melanie!!! I cannot believe you did that to your brother! Apologies now." she said, understanding now what had happened.  
  
Melanie sighed, defeated. She looked at her little brother, apologetically and said, "Sorry Jamsie."  
  
"Don't call me that!!! It's bad enough I get it from Sirius!!!" he cut her off.  
  
Melanie rolled her eyes and said, "Well anyway, you did deserve what was coming to you. You wouldn't get up when I told you to."  
  
"I don't have time for this. Mum, we have to leave right now." James said, turning his attention back to his mother.  
  
"Whatever's the rush, son? We can always Floo over there." his mother said.  
  
"I know, but I promised Sirius that I'd be there at 10:30. Right now it's... 10:45!!!" he said.  
  
"All right, all right. Come on Melanie, your brother may blow up if he doesn't get to that station and see his long lost friend Sirius." she added the last part sarcastically, but with a motherly smile. Sirius had just been over last night, wrecking havoc on the household.  
  
"That's right." James said, purposely ignoring his mother's sarcasm.  
  
============================================================================  
  
"I don't see it anywhere." her mother said.  
  
Petunia snorted rudely. "It was probably all a joke. Someone probably knew the freak here would be gullible enough to believe it." Lily looked panicked for a moment. What if it had been just a joke!!!  
  
"Petunia! You will not speak to your sister that rudely again, do you hear?" her mother scolded. Petunia just glared and sulked.  
  
Lily looked all around; suddenly she saw something that caught her eye. "Mother! Look. I think he may be going to Hogwarts."  
  
"How can you be so sure, honey?" her mother asked, skeptically.  
  
"He had an owl." she stated simply. "Let's follow him. It won't hurt just to check." with that she pushed her cart along the pavement, dodging some people here and there. What she saw next made her, her mother and Petunia stop dead in their tracks.  
  
"Did...did he just walk right through that platform" her mother stuttered.  
  
Lily, wide-eyed, nodded her head slowly. "I think he did." she said, timidly. 'Oh come on Lily. Don't get cold feet now. Just think, 4 months with no Petunia!' she said to herself, building up some confidence. She turned to her mother and Petunia, who was leaning against a different platform and glaring at the people who passed by.  
  
"Ok... well I guess this is it. Goodbye, Mother. Petunia" After a teary goodbye, Lily raced onto the platform, leaving Petunia and her mother to stare at it for a few moments. Then they turned around and started to walk back to the car.  
  
"Oh. Petunia, dear, wait here for a moment. I want to find out how much a to-and-back ticket to Ireland is." her mother left Petunia standing by one of the platforms.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~  
  
James was running along the train station, pushing his trolley and trying not to bump into people. His sister went before him with the Floo powder so she was already ahead of him, no doubt already on the platform. His mother decided to stay home, telling Melanie to watch out for James, which, of course, Melanie ignored. James was already 20 minutes late, he just knew Sirius would be pranking him for weeks as punishment.  
  
James was so lost in thought that he almost ran over an 'innocent' muggle.  
  
"Watch it!" she said, glaring.  
  
"Oopps. Sorry about that." James said, smiling innocently and made his eyes as big as he could, this look had always made him look so cute that it always got him out of trouble. He figured out that trick back when he was about 4. He couldn't remember who taught him that, he always figured it had been his sister.  
  
Petunia, the girl he had ran into, just stared at him. 'What's he trying to pull. Lily came up with that kind of smile and puppy dog face back when she was 4 so she'd get away with anything. Rather stupid trick, though. It never works on me.' she furrowed her brows in confusion. This kid looked so familiar to her. Then she smirked, recognizing this kid. The only other person that she knew who did that was...  
  
"James Potter."  
  
~~~~*****~~~~~*******~*~*~*~*~**~*~~*~*~*~~~******~~~~~~**~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~** ***  
  
A/N- Well there's another chapter. Please review and thanks to all who already did!!! 


	4. The Meetings of Older Sisters

Hi Everyone!!! Ok. I forgot to put a disclaimer on here so here it is. I don't own anything anyone recognizes on here. Now on to the story. If you don't remember, this is the last few lines on the last chapter. Now enjoy! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~* Petunia, the girl he had ran into, just stared at him. 'What's he trying to pull? Lily came up with that kind of smile and puppy dog face back when she was 4 so she'd get away with anything. Rather stupid trick, though. It never works on me.' she furrowed her brows in confusion. This kid looked so familiar to her. Then she smirked, recognizing this kid. The only other person that she knew who did that was...  
  
"James Potter." 888888888888888888*******************88888888888888888888*******************  
  
As Petunia said this, James' face dropped from its puppy dog look to a look of confusion. This teenager was just glaring at him and not moving. She was rather dangly-looking and had a horse-shaped face that didn't do her justice in the slightest. James did admit she did look a little familiar but he couldn't remember were he might have seen her. To make matters more bizarre for him, she knew his name.  
  
"Yes that's my name... do I know you?" he asked politely.  
  
"Should have known you'd grow up just as clueless as you were when you were six. You always were a dumb kid." she scoffed.  
  
James blinked in surprise. ' 'When you were six.'? How the hell did she know me when I was six?' "Excuse me?" he asked. 'Maybe I misinterpreted her.'  
  
She just sighed, exasperated, "You are honestly telling me you can't remember anything as far back of only 5 years! Hello!... Petunia. Petunia Evans!? Your neighbor? You and Lily once cut my hair and dyed it purple." she said loudly, trying to jog his memory.  
  
James widened his eyes in horror, "Petunia!" he sputtered, terrified. Standing right in front of him was the person who made him believe there was evil in the muggle world, too. She scared the hell out of him when he was six. By the way she was acting right now, he realized some things really do never change. Petunia smirked, finally she got it through his thick head.  
  
Then, James thought of someone he hadn't thought of in quite a while. He kept pushing all thoughts of this out of his head because it was way too painful for him. "I-Is Lily here?" he asked hopefully.  
  
"Acual-" she began, but stopped. 'Why should I tell him where's she's at?' She looked at James' trolley and saw he had an owl. She smirked in understanding. James, noticing she stopped talking and looked at his cart, mistook her smirk. He thought she was going to make fun of him, not knowing just 5 minutes before she had been with her sister, watching her go through the invisible barrier. James decided to lie.  
  
"Uh... I'm going to visit my, uh, aunt. She loves owls and mum made me take this to her as sort of an early birthday present." he finished, looking quite pleased with himself for coming up with such a plausible lie so quickly under pressure. But Petunia didn't live with Lily, who taught James almost everything he knew about deceiving people, and not being able to tell fiction from non-fiction. Though she knew James was lying and was most likely going to the same school as her sister, her being the mean git she is, decided to play dumb.  
  
"Ohhhh" she said, acting clueless. "Well anyway, no Lily is not here. She just got on the train." Petunia pointed to a greenish-brown train they were standing close to.  
  
"Oh." James said, looking very disappointed. "Well I guess I'd better be going. It was ...err...nice to see you again Petunia." he said, trying to sound polite.  
  
With that, he turned and ran the rest of the way to the platform.  
  
=`=`=`=`=`=`=`=`=`=`=`=`=`=`=`=`With Lily=`=`=`=`=`=`=`=`=`=`=`=`=`=`=`=`=`=`=`  
  
Lily just seated herself in an empty compartment she had just found. She decided she would catch up on her prank book she bought at Zonko's. Not 5 minutes after she began reading, an older girl with dark hair and glasses came in. She looked as though she were in her 5th or 6th year. The dark haired girl looked around the not entirely paying attention to Lily.  
  
"Hello. Have you seen-" she started asking Lily, but then she finally looked straight at Lily and did a double take. She lifted her head slightly, her eyes not leaving Lily's. Head still inclined, questionably, she asked, "Do I know you? You look 'really' familiar. What's your name?"  
  
"Lily. Lily Evans."  
  
The other girl narrowed her eyes in concentration 'maybe...' she thought, "How old are you?" she asked, while sitting down across from Lily.  
  
"Eleven. I'm a first year. What about you?" Lily asked, getting slightly nervous and trying to change the subject.  
  
"Oh. I'm a fifth year, Gryffindor." she said, smiling suddenly.  
  
"Gryffin- what?" Lily asked, confused.  
  
Lily's question seemed to prove whatever the girl was assuming, since her smile just broke out into a full-fledged grin.  
  
"I'll explain in a minute.... I knew you looked familiar. Lily Evans, yes." seeing Lily's apprehensive face, she asked Lily a question. "Lily, do you live on a Maple Street?"  
  
Lily looked taken aback by that question, "I-I used to. But my family and I moved three years ago. Why? How'd you know that?"  
  
"So you don't recognize me?"  
  
Lily looked closely at the girl. Shoulder length dark brown hair, chocolate brown eyes with glasses... 'She does seem familiar.' Lily thought.  
  
"You do look familiar. What's your name?" Lily said, slowly.  
  
"Melanie. Melanie Potter. Lily, I used to live on Maple St. too. Remember. My family was your next door neighbors!" Melanie said, excitedly.  
  
Lily bit her lip, still looking confused. Then, with full force, memories came flooding back to her. Of course! Melanie Potter! The girl Lily thought of more as a sister than Petunia! The girl who used to baby-sit me. The girl who loved playing pranks as much as me!  
  
"MELLY!" Lily jumped up a hugged her old neighbor. Melanie laughed at Lily's sudden outburst.  
  
"It's so good to see you!" Lily said when she sat back down.  
  
"Same to you. Sorry if I was freaking you out with all those questions. Gawd, Lily. You sure have grown up. I mean when I used to baby-sit you, you were just the cutest thing, but now, let's just say the boys won't be paying attention to us old farts." Melanie said, her sense of humor hadn't changed one bit.  
  
Lily giggled, rather uncomfortable with someone complimenting her on how pretty she was. Petunia had done a good job with pushing all thoughts Lily might have had about thinking herself beautiful when Melanie and her family moved.  
  
Melanie suddenly looked thoughtful. "Hey Lily... I'll be right back, all right. There's someone who you've got to see."  
  
"Ok" Lily said, still smiling.  
  
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@  
  
A/N- Ok I know. REALLY crappy chapter. But stay tuned... next chapter Lily and James MEET AGAIN! YAY!!! 


	5. Is It Really You?

Lily was anxiously waiting for Melanie to return when she heard the compartment door open. She turned quickly around, smiling sweetly. But her smile quickly faded when she saw who it really was.  
  
"Look at what I've found here. My old childhood friend. Sorry I had to run off the other day in such a hurry." Snape said from the doorway. Another kid was by his side this time, though. He had white blond hair that was combed back from his face. He had the coldest grey eyes Lily had ever seen.  
  
Lily's heart was beating so loudly in her chest she thought the two boys had heard it. She started to shake a little and spoke nervously. "Go away Snape."  
  
At this the two boys laughed. The blond one spoke. "Oh come now Snape. Aren't you going to introduce me to your cute little friend?" he asked coldly, ignoring Lily's request.  
  
"Oh how thoughtless of me. Lucius Malfoy this is Miss Lily Evans...a.k.a the Mudblood." he said the last part with utter loathing in his eyes. Malfoy narrowed his eyes at the word 'mudblood'.  
  
"Really now. A mudblood, huh? Tsk tsk tsk." he turned to Lily. "I don't like mudbloods Lily. I think they're disgusting creatures that shouldn't be aloud to learn magic." he then turned back to Snape, a dangerous glint in his cold hard eyes. "Shall we teach her a lesson?" Snape smirked and nodded then turned and pointed his wand at the door, muttering a spell to lock it.  
  
Lily's eyes widened in fear. Malfoy was walking over to her. Lily started to scream out for help, which caused Malfoy to rush over to her and clamp his hand over her mouth and grip her upper arm tightly, causing her to wince with pain.  
  
"Shut up, filthy mudblood!" he hissed. Snape appeared over his shoulder and glared at Lily, showing no mercy whatsoever.  
  
~~~One compartment over~~~  
  
"Where's James at. He should have been here ages ago!" Sirius said.  
  
Remus looked up from his game of wizard's chess with Peter to look at Sirius. "I don't know. But he'd better get here quick. The train's going to leave in a couple of minutes." Just then, the compartment door burst open.  
  
"Hey guys. Have you seen my little brother?" Melanie asked. The three boys shook their heads. She sighed. "All right. See you at the sorting." she turned and started to walk out the compartment.  
  
"Oy. If you do see him, tell him to get his lazy arse in here. We've got pranks to plan." Sirius called to her. She just waved her hand over here shoulder in understanding, not looking back to answer.  
  
After she had left, Remus made one last move on the board, "checkmate" he said and stood up off the ground and sat next to Sirius. The second he sat down, Sirius made a movement, "What was that?"  
  
Remus looked at him, confused, "What was what?"  
  
"That noise. Did you hear it? It sounding like it was coming from the next compartment over" Sirius said, pressing his ear against the wall separating the two compartments. Remus, still looking confused, did the same. They heard a muffled scream and they both tensed up.  
  
"Someone's screaming. C'mon. Let's go see what's up." Sirius said.  
  
All three of them stood up and walked out of the compartment and down to the next one. "What's going on guys?" Peter asked.  
  
Remus was struggling with the door, "its locked." he muttered and pulled out his wand. He whispered a spell and the door opened. All three shoved their way in. They instantly gasped at what was in front of them. Lucius Malfoy and Snape were standing over a girl who was huddled in a corner, looking terrified.  
  
"What the bloody hell are you gits doing?!" Remus shouted.  
  
"Get away from her." Sirius snarled, him and Remus pulling out their wands and pointing them straight at the boys.  
  
"Awww. Is the dream team helping out their mudblood girlfriend?" Snape asked with a smirk.  
  
"Go ahead and contaminate yourselves with this piece of trash for now. Might want to keep an eye on her, though. Something a cute as her, she might come across a little trouble when she arrives at Hogwarts." Lucius said, eerily calm.  
  
"Why you stupid son of a-" Sirius then lunged at him. Remus pointed his wand at Snape when he saw him trying to hit Sirius from behind.  
  
"I wouldn't if I were you Snape. Take Malfoy and get out of here now." he said, quietly yet dangerously. Snape glared once more at Remus and then pulled Malfoy away from Sirius and stalked out of the compartment.  
  
Once they were both gone, Sirius and Remus turned and looked at the redhead, who was still huddled in a ball at the ground, staring wide eyed at them and shaking horribly.  
  
Remus knelt down beside her and placed a hand gently on her arm, "Are you alright?"  
  
She looked over at him and slowly nodded. Remus then helped her up and sat her down on one of the seats. Peter was standing in the corner, looking awkward, not quite sure of what to do.  
  
Lily took a deep breath and glance up at both Sirius and Remus. They both noticed a cut on her lip. Sirius' hands clenched in fists when he noticed and Remus was fuming with anger.  
  
Lily noticed this and said, "Really I'm fine. It's just a little cut."  
  
"Hey, you're that girl we met at Diagon Alley. Lily, right?" Remus suddenly asked.  
  
Lily smiled and nodded, happy that she may be making some friends.  
  
Sirius and Remus sat down across from her.  
  
"Do you want one of us to get something for that?" Sirius said, pointing to her cut lip.  
  
"No. That's all right. Thanks, though." she said smiling just a little. Both Remus and Sirius both thought she looked so pure and innocent, they couldn't believe anyone would want to hurt her. She then sighed and said sadly. "I sure do have a way with bumping into people, huh? I'm so sorry. I'm just causing all kinds of problems here. You guys keep having to save me".  
  
"No, it's all right. It's not your fault Snape and Malfoy are pains in the arses." Sirius said, trying to cheer the sad girl up.  
  
"You said you knew Snape when you were younger. Where'd you know him from?" Remus asked, curiously.  
  
Lily shrugged, "I used to live on the same street as him. Even then he was mean. I remember the first time I met him, he came up to me and started to make fun of-" she was cut off when the compartment door opened again. In the doorway stood the other boy Lily had met at Diagon Alley, James.  
  
"There you guys are. I had a bloody hard time finding you guys. Then I ran into Melanie and she told me to go into this compartment for a big surprise. Really didn't trust her though. Oh hi Li-." James said,  
  
When Lily looked at James, she was on the edge of remembering something. Suddenly, both looked as though they were in their own little world.  
  
*Flash*  
  
A little girl was riding her tricycle back and forth between two houses. Her house, and the one next door. The one with a moving van in front of it, with workers unloading all sorts of furniture items. It was quite a funny sight to some neighbors to see this adorable little three year old with red hair just slowly ride to the end of the sidewalk in front of her house and turn around to ride it slowly to the other end of the sidewalk, her bright green, curious eyes never leaving the yard with all the chaos going on. It was as though she were trying to get someone to pay attention to her.  
  
On her 15th time riding towards the other house, by that time the moving van and workers had all cleared out, three year old Lily fell off her bike. Her eyes started to water and she let out a whimper, staring at a scrape that was on her knee.  
  
"Are you ok?" a voice asked.  
  
Lily looked up and saw a boy about her age with glasses. She sniffled, her face set in a pout. "My knee has a boo-boo." she said, softly.  
  
"Come on. My mommy can fix it." he said, helping her up.  
  
"Is she nice?" Lily asked shyly.  
  
James smiled and said, "Of course! My mommy is the bestest mommy in the whole wide world. She even lets me stay up past 8:30!" he said the last part with pride.  
  
Lily stared at him in amazement, forgetting her knee for a moment. "Wow! Really?"  
  
"Yup. Come on. My mommy can heal things really good."  
  
*Flash*  
  
Three and a half year old Lily was sitting with her best friend three and a half year old James. Both had chocolate ice cream cones. Lily accidentally dropped hers and it fell to the ground. She started to whimper, looking at her smushed ice cream.  
  
"Don't cry Lily. Here." James said, handing her his untouched ice cream.  
  
Lily smiled, "Thanks James. You're my bestest friend" she said, hugging him.  
  
*Flash*  
  
4 year old James and Lily were in the Potter's backyard. 9 year old Petunia was stalking over to the two little children.  
  
"Lily Marie Evans!! You and Potter had better apologize to me right now. I know for a fact that it was you two that had set that bucket of hot fudge so it would spill all over me when I got up this morning!!!" shrieked Petunia.  
  
All four grown-ups of their houses to see what their children were fighting about. Lily and James were trying to stifle the laughs that were threatening to abrupt from their mouths.  
  
"What is going on here? Petunia?" Mrs. Evans asked, looking at her eldest child.  
  
"That-that brat, and her 'friend' poured hot fudge all over me this morning!!!" Petunia said, pointing an accusing finger at Lily and James.  
  
All four parents glared down at the two accused.  
  
'Uh-oh. 'The' glare. Time for drastic measures', Lily thought. She looked up at them, her eyes as wide as they would go and an extremely innocent smile on her face. When the four adults saw this, their eyes softened considerably.  
  
"Oh Petunia, she just 4 years old. She and James couldn't have come up with a scheme like that. Come now, breakfast is inside, waiting." Mr. Evans said.  
  
"But-" Petunia started.  
  
"No 'buts' young lady." her father said sternly. Petunia closed her mouth and glared once more at Lily and James before retreating back to the house. Followed closely behind by the Evans and the Potters.  
  
As soon as they were gone, James and Lily both burst out laughing.  
  
"L-Lily, you 'have' to teach me that trick!" James wheezed out.  
  
"Ok. It's simple really. All you do is..."  
  
*Flash*  
  
5 year old James was sitting on the ground under the large oak tree in his yard. He was practicing his reading for his advanced pre-school class, but he couldn't get the hang of it. He sighed in frustration, running a hand through his already messy hair.  
  
"Hi James. Whatcha doin'?" Lily said, walking up to him.  
  
"I'm trying to read this story book, but it's no use. I can't understand any of this." he said, scowling at the pages.  
  
"I'll help you." Lily said, taking the book from him and taking a seat next to him under the tree.  
  
~~30 minutes later~~  
  
"- and they both lived happily ever after. LILY! I did it! I read the book!" James exclaimed, turning and hugged Lily.  
  
*Flash*  
  
"Promise we'll be friends forever, ok James?" 6 year old Lily said, tears in her eyes.  
  
"Forever eternally, Flower." James said, sadly.  
  
"Pinky promise?" Lily said, sticking out her pinky.  
  
James smiled, "Pinky promise." with that, he hooked his pinky onto hers.  
  
*Flash to the Present*  
  
Lily and James both blinked their eyes twice as their flashbacks stopped. Remus and Sirius both had an eyebrow raised, staring at the two intently.  
  
"Aaaare you two ok?" Sirius asked, slowly.  
  
"James?/Lily?" they both said in unison.  
  
Remus and Sirius exchanged confused glances with each other. Then looked back at the two when Lily had jumped up off her seat and the two hugged each other, looking terrified the other one would disappear.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A/N- ok, a sort-of cliffhanger. Did ya like it? Please review. 


	6. The Look

They stayed that way for about five minutes until Remus cleared his throat loudly. Both Lily and James jumped and looked over at the two.  
  
Sirius raised both his eyebrows and said in a patronizing voice as though he were talking to small children, "Wanna tell us what's going on?"  
  
James smiled widely and said as both he and Lily sat down next to each other, "Guys this is Lily Evans."  
  
They both gave James a 'duh!' look.  
  
"She was my very best friend when I lived in the muggle world for three years." James went on, ignoring the looks from Remus and Sirius. Lily was just grinning like crazy next to him. Then James turned his attention back to her.  
  
"It's great to see you. I even ran into your sister." James said.  
  
"Petunia? You ran into Petunia? Ooooh. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. What happened?" Lily asked.  
  
"She scared the living daylights out of me. First, she yelled at me for almost hitting her with my trolley. An accident of course. Then I gave her 'the' look." James said, looking at Sirius and Remus at the last part because he didn't think Lily knew what 'the' look was. At that, Lily, Remus, and Sirius burst out laughing.  
  
"What?" James asked, indignantly.  
  
"Jamsie, after all these years you haven't figured out that trick only works on adults. I remember the first time you tried it on us. You couldn't even keep a straight face because of the confused looks we were giving you. Peter even asked if you were alright because you look constipated." Sirius managed to wheeze out. When Sirius said the last part, Lily was crying tears of mirth.  
  
"Oh come on. I was only eight when I did that. You're telling me you still remember that? My sister must have taught me wrong when she showed me how to do it. It 'was' supposed to work on anyone, she even told me that!" James said over the laughter.  
  
Lily stopped laughing for a moment, hearing the last part of what he said. "What do you mean your sister taught you that? 'I' taught you that when we were 4! Remember Petunia was on another one of her rampages after we rigged that bucket of hot fudge to pour over her when we woke up?"  
  
The three boys looked at her, not laughing anymore. Remus and Sirius looked at her in awe. James stared at her, looking as though he just solved a 10 year problem. "You're right! I totally blocked that out. I thought Melly taught me that."  
  
"'You' came up with 'the' look! I just 'have' to do this!" Sirius got up and shook her hand hyperly. (A/N- is that a word? Oh well)"Thank you sooo much. That has got me out of so many problems with my parents."  
  
Lily burst out laughing again. The others soon followed her example. By the end of the train ride, the four, well five if you include Peter who was watching the rest talk and joke around for the whole ride, they were all as close as they could possibly get. Remus and Sirius both unofficially named themselves Lily's 'brothers' and it seemed as though they had known her as long as James had. This wasn't a bond that would ever be broken.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
A/N- ok that chapter wasn't long at all. Sorry about that. The next one should be pretty long. If anyone has any ideas on what should happen in the next chapters, please review and tell me. Thank you to all who have reviewed. You guys are the best!!! Mwah! 


	7. The Boat Ride

When the train stopped, the five occupants in the compartment started walking with the stream of other first years. James was in absolute rage when Lily and the three other boys told him about what happened with Snape and Malfoy.  
  
"Malfoy acually 'punched' you! Oh, I am going to kick his a-" James started to shout.  
  
"James, it's fine. I'm perfectly alright." Lily interupted him.  
  
James was about to reply when he heard a voice shout, "Firs' years this way! Four ter a boat!" The voice belonged to Hogwarts gamekeeper, Hagrid.  
  
"Looks like we have a problem. Four to a boat?! There's five of us." Sirius said, stupidly.  
  
"Thank you Captain Obvious." James said, sarcastically.  
  
"Oh it's no big deal guys. I'll just go find a boat full of first year girls to chat with." Lily said, starting to walk off. Remus, James, and Sirius shared uneasy looks. Knowing Lily's luck of past occurances, there was no telling what trouble Malfoy and Snape had planned for her if she were without one of them around to protect her. Surprisingly, Peter was thinking about this as well.  
  
"W-well. Wait Lily. Uh, Remus and I can go with you. That way you'll at least know someone else." The three other boys looked at him, surprised. Lily smiled at him.  
  
"Ok, thanks. That's really sweet." Lily said, dragging the two boys along after she said her goodbyes to Sirius and James.  
  
Lily, Remus, and Peter found a boat with one other boy in it. James and Sirius were still looking for one. Finally, Sirius spotted one with two seats available. There was only one problem with it. The other two in it were none other than, yep you guessed it.  
  
"Malfoy" James snarled just as Sirius spat out, "Snape"  
  
"Awww. What do we have here. Potty and his faithful companion Black. Where's your mudblood girlfriend?" Malfoy sneered.  
  
James took out his wand in the blink of an eye and pointed it at Malfoy. "Watch what you say about Lily."  
  
Snape rolled his eyes, "Still defending her, huh? Just know this Potter. You're not going to be around her 24/7 to protect. What will happen then?"  
  
James turned his head slowly to look at Snape. "I'd bet my life that Lily could take care of herself if needed, however, if you even think to come near her, ever, you'll wish I would have done what I was going to do back at Diagon Alley." he said, threateningly.  
  
Snape quickly glanced over at Sirius, who was shaking with rage, then glanced back at James, "You say this now when Black is with you. You wouldn't be so confident if it were just you."  
  
James raised an eyebrow at him, "If I recall correctly, I lived on the same street as you for two years and you were terrified of both me 'and' Lily. I'd be as confident as I am now if it were just you and me. If I were you, 'I'd' watch 'my' back."  
  
Snape leaned in closer, "Is that a threat, Potter?"  
  
James said in a deadly quiet voice, "It's a warning, Snape." It looked as though James could have tackled Snape right then and there, so Sirius put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head slightly, calming his friend down.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
The boatride with Lily, Remus, and Peter was quiet. Nobody spoke for a couple of minutes. Then Lily said, "What hair color would be more embarressing for a boy, pink or purple?"  
  
Remus thought about it, "I'd have to say... pink. It's a little more girly than purple."  
  
Lily nodded, "I agree."  
  
Peter spoke up, "Why?"  
  
Lily got a mischevious glint in her eye that neither boy had seen before, "I think I'm gonna pay Snape and Malfoy back."  
  
Remus did a double-take on Lily, "W-what?"  
  
Lily looked over at Remus batting her eyelashes, "You don't really think I'd let them get away with that, do you? I may not be good with confrontation, but I am good at pulling pranks."  
  
"You like to pull pranks?" Remus asked.  
  
"Of course. I didn't live next door to James for three years for nothing. He and I always used to prank Snape." Lily answered.  
  
"But do you know the spell?" Peter asked.  
  
She nodded, "Yup. I read a little further into my Charms book than necessary." she took out her wand, "Do you see which boat they're in?"  
  
Remus looked around then nodded, "That one over there. I think Sirius and James are in it also."  
  
"Awww. I feel sorry for them. I'll try not to hit them with the spell." she took careful aim and said a few words under her breath. The next thing anyone knew, Snape and Malfoy's hair had grown a little longer, turned a hot pink color, and tied itself in braids. Everyone who were close enough to see them burst out laughing. James and Sirius were leaning on each other for support, laughing so hard they started to cry. Snape and Malfoy were looking around to see who had done it. When they spotted Lily with her wand out, she smiled sweetly and waved. James and Sirius saw all this and, if possible, laughed even harder. The two pink-heads were just glaring and shaking with rage.  
  
Lily turned back to the boys in the boat and said calmly, "Phase one: complete."  
~*~*~*~  
  
A/N- hoped you all enjoyed it! If any of you have any ideas for later chapters, again please tell me them. I'm open for any suggestions. I'll take this time to answer the reviews I got.  
  
Lyz- thank you so much!  
  
Mystic Queen- I know! 'The Look' I don't even know how i came up with it. Anyway, thanks for the review.  
  
Ascafeniel- You're right. I was neglecting Peter a little too much. In this chapter, I tried to make Peter in the plot more. Thanks for the review.  
  
Muah-baby-muah- you're the sweetest! Thank you for ALL the reviews. I've gotten more reviews from you than anyone else. THANKS!!!  
  
Titansgirl27- I hope the updates are quick enough! Thanks for the review.  
  
RvnclwPrincess- Thank you for the review. Hope you enjoy the rest of the story  
  
Madame Moony- Sorry I didn't email you when I posted the last chapter. Thanks for the review.  
  
Stating-the-Obvious- thanks for the review! What they did to her was this: Malfoy hit her across the face and Snape pushed her off her seat, that's where Remus, Sirius and Peter came in. Sorry I didn't make that clear.  
  
snowflake- I'm a hopeless case for corny-ness myself. I really liked that part of the story, all the flashbacks, it was one of the funniest parts writing so far! Thanks for reviewing.  
  
Shinning Crystal- I realize now that I'm making Lily be too much of a baby. This chapter, she's becoming more open to people. Thanks for pointing that out. Also thanks for reviewing.  
  
LoonyLoopyLisa- Thank you for the review and the fact that this is one of your favorite stories. I am truthfully honored. THANKS!!!  
  
Alexa Daniell Black- I hope these updates are quick enough! Thanks for the review!  
  
Fangboy- Thanks for the review!  
  
silver-star- hope your enjoying the story. Thanks  
  
Cyclone Girlie- Thank you so much for the review!!!  
  
Ok all you people out there reading this. I hope you all enjoy the rest of the story, also, if you haven't already, read my two other stories. They're called: 'It's Never Too Late" and "Harry Potter and the Prophesy of Life". And one more thing. I'm thinking about writing another story. This one will be medeivel...or however you spell it. Ok well please review more and I'll update as soon as possible. 


	8. Interesting New Looks James and Sirius!

When the boat ride ended, the other boy in their boat got out first then Remus and Peter jumped out and helped Lily out. The three looked around for James and Sirius, finally spotting them near the entrance. At least, they spotted James. They noticed something above his head, but since it was so dark out, they couldn't make out what it was. His back was to them when the three made it up to him.  
  
"Hey James!" Lily said happily.  
  
James stiffened at the sound of her voice. "O-oh... hey Lily. W-what's up?"  
  
Lily raised an eyebrow to Remus and Peter, who just shrugged their shoulders in confusion.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"Two words" Malfoy, Snape" James growled.  
  
"Sooo. Where's Sirius?" Lily asked, slowly.  
  
"Around" James said simply.  
  
Lily sighed in frustration, "James Potter! Turn around this instant!"  
  
"No." James said stubbornly.  
  
Lily rolled her eyes, then an idea formed in her mind, "James, if you don't turn around right now, I'm afraid I may 'accidently' let a certain secret slipped that I'm 'positive' you've never told anyone else." then she leaned up again his shoulder and whispered in his ear, "James 'Clarence' Potter..." James panicked and turned around.  
  
"You wouldn't dare!" he said, but his words fell on deaf ears because the moment he turned around, Lily, Remus, and Peter were all doubled up with laughter. And who wouldn't? James looked absolutely hilarious! A lavender, fluffy bunny with glasses! That's what the three saw when he turned. He had the ears and buck teeth and everything.  
  
"J-James! Y-you l-ook like t-the... Easter Bunny!!!" Lily managed to sputter out.  
  
"Bingo, chuckles." James said sourly, holding up a pretty pink basket with painted eggs in it. That didn't help the three at all. It made them laugh even harder. When they finally calmed down, five minutes later, Remus spoke up.  
  
"So where's Sirius?"  
  
James didn't say anything, he just pointed to a tree a few feet away. The three raced on over there, eager to see what their other friend turned into. James, a few feet behind, just hopped along, ignoring the snickers and giggles from fellow first years waiting for the doors to open. When the four all made it to the tree, the all gathered around it and started to talk.  
  
"Sirius! Are you there?" Remus called out. There was no answer, but they could see movement from behind the tree. Remus, Lily, and Peter all exchanged amused looks and then nodded in some silent exchange. James just watched all this happen, smirking. Lily and Remus walked around on side of the tree and Peter took the other side.  
  
James heard an 'eek!' sound and in less than a second, all four of them, including Sirius appeared from behind the tree. Lily, Remus, and Peter just stared at Sirius opened mouth. Then in a split second, they were rolling on the grass howling with laughter. Sirius may have just been worse than James. The little ballerina that stood before them was wearing a scowl... along with a 'pink' tutu with 'pink' tights and 'pink' bows in it's hair, which was in two matching pigtails! The ballerina... a.k.a Sirius... just stood there and waited for the other three to calm down.  
  
James spoke up once they were calm again, "Anyone, by chance, know the counter-curse?" The others were saved from answering when they heard the doors to the castle open. Remus and Peter just looked at them and said, "Shucks! Love ta help ya, but we're gonna be late for the sorting." with that they ran off. Lily just stared sympathetically at them, shrugged, and grabbed their hands and guided them to the doors.  
  
'Phase two" about to begin..." Lily thought to herself as she and her friends were ushered in.  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N- how'd ya like? The next chapter will be the sorting and you'll see what 'phase two' is. Well anyway, please review and thanks to all who did!!! 


	9. Phase Two

As soon as everyone was sorted and James and Sirius were changed back to normal by a very angry Professor McGonagall, and when Snape's and Malfoy's hair were changed back to normal, the five friends were happy to see they were all in the same house (Gryffindor). There were only four new Gryffindor boys (the future Maurader's) and four new girls. James and Sirius were sitting across from Lily and Remus was sitting on Lily's left with Peter sitting next to Remus.  
  
'Phase two" ready to commence' Lily thought to herself. Lily, very discreetly, pulled out her wand and muttered a few words. Immediatly, Snape's and Malfoy's hair was back in pink braids. This time, though, they were also dressed in matching pink dresses with lace around the trimming, and also had two identical spots of pink bluch on their cheecks. They stood up, everyone noticed a large lollipop in each of their hands, looking like they were in some sort of trance. Everyone that wasn't laughing hysterically, was watching the two intently with sparkling eyes and smiles on their faces.  
  
To everyone's surprise, Snape and Malfoy started to sing.  
  
Lollipop lollipop Oh lolli lolli lolli Lollipop lollipop..... Call my baby lollipop Tell you why His kiss is sweeter than an apple pie And when he does his shaky rockin' dance Man, I haven't got a chance I call him Lollipop lollipop Oh lolli lolli lolli Lollipop lollipop..... Sweeter than candy on a stick Huckleberry, chimry or lime If you had a choice He'd be your pick But lollipop is mine Lollipop lollipop Oh lolli lolli lolli Lollipop lollipop..... Crazy way he thrills me Tell you why Just like a lightning from the sky He loves to kiss me till I can't see straight GEE, MY LOLLIPOP IS GREAT I call him Lollipop lollipop Oh lolli lolli lolli Lollipop lollipop.....  
  
At the end of the song, the entire hall was in tears from laughing so much. All except for Professor Zimmermen, the head of Slytherian house, and Professor McGonagall, who's mouth was twitching from trying not to laugh and look stern. Even Headmaster Dumbledore was chuckeling merrily. Since no one had any proof of who did it, no one got detention. Professor Zimmermen took the spell off the two and everything went back to normal when everyone started eating again, wondering who pulled the prank.  
  
The four boys all turned to look at Lily, who put her finger up to her mouth, telling them to keep quiet. That caused the four to burst out laughing again.  
  
Lily decided to make friends with the other Gryffindor first year girl so she turned to look at the blond haired girl that was sitting on Lily's right.  
  
"Hi! I'm Lily. What's your name?" Lily asked politely. The girl turned to look at Lily, her nose stuck up in the air.  
  
"Excuse me. I 'was' having an interesting conversation with my 'friends' before you interupted us. Now what were you saying. Oh yes, my name. I'm Cassandra Wellington." She said this snottily as though Lily was supposed to throw herself at her feet and beg her forgiveness for interupting. Lily ignored her tone and stayed friendly nonetheless.  
  
She smiled brightly and said, "Please to meet you. Are you as nervous as I am?" The two other girls that Cassandra was talking to just glared at her for some reason unknown to Lily.  
  
"I'm sorry. I obviously gave you the wrong impression-" Cassandra started but Lily cut her off, not noticing the sneer on the girl's face.  
  
"Oh that's alright," Lily said, she thought Cassandra was apologizing to her for being rude, "I get that way to when I'm nervous."  
  
Cassandra laughed, cold and patronizingly, "No No No. I obviously gave you the wrong impression that I'd want to be friends with some ugly red-head like you." Cassandra's friends giggled and laughed at Lily.  
  
Lily's high spirits drifted away and she stared down at her plate, tears forming in her eyes. James and Sirius had witnessed all of this going on. The immediatly took action.  
  
"Hey!" James shouted, getting the attention of the three other girls.  
  
"James don't..." Lily looked up, slightly shaking her head, her eyes wide.  
  
"No, Lily. These three bimbos just insulted you." Sirius cut her off, his eyes blazing with furry. He turned his attention back to the girls, "Who do you think you are."  
  
Cassandra batted her eyelashes at James and Sirius, going into flirt mode. She giggled ditzy-like, "Hi! I'm Cassandra Wellington." She paused for effect. James and Sirius looked at each other and raised an eyebrow, Cassandra continued on, ignoring their expression, "and she's" she pointed to another blond that had on too much makeup, "Is Stacy Rocks. and she is," she pointed to a girl with long, sleek, brown hair and had a snobby expression on her face, "Is Kelly Abraham. We've known each other since we were 5." she giggled some more and flipped her hair off her shoulder.  
  
Remus and Peter, who had been having a conversation, turned their attention to what was going on a few feet away from them.  
  
"I don't care if you're Merlin. No one insults Lily like that...ever." James said, warningly. Cassandra and the other girls looked at Lily with distain.  
  
"Why not? It's not as though she's anything important. I bet she doesn't even have wizard parents." Kelly said, snottily.  
  
All four boys glared at her while Lily just jumped up mumbling, "Excuse me." and ran out of the Great Hall. James immediatly jumped up, giving Sirius and Remus a look that said, 'tell them off'. He ran out after Lily.  
~*~*~*~  
  
A/N- poor Lily! those stupid brats! What 'will' happen next. Please read and review to find out. Happy Belated Easter everyone. Also, I'll answer more reviews now.  
  
freakyfroggurl22- thank you so much!  
  
Lyz- sorry about all the cliffies... but they do keep me motivated. Even I don't know what's going to happen. hehe  
  
Cassie Gurl- thanks for the review. I hope this update is quick enough.  
  
Muah-baby-muah- Happy Easta to you too! I always have to much sugar and then get really hyper afterwords, so I know how you feel!  
  
Alexa Daniell Black- thanks for the review  
  
Stating-the-Obvious- yup! friends till the end!...well except for Peter, but don't worry, I won't go into that in this story. Thanks!  
  
Shinning Crystal- thanks again for the offer. Please read my new story 'Once Upon a Time' and give me pointers and stuff. I hope ya like!  
  
And that leaves me to one more thing. I have started yet 'another' story. It's called Once Upon a Time and has L/J. Please read that and my other story as well. Once again. Happy Easter!!!! 


	10. The 'Amazing Duo' Turns Into the Amazing...

A/N- all right everyone. I've decided to do something new. This goes for all my other stories as well. For every review I get, I'll give you one sentence added to previews on the next chapters. The bottom line of this is... review. Thank you to all that have reviewed. I'll be writing a 3 remark preview at the end of the chapter thanks to Muah-baby-muah, LoonyLoopyLisa, and snowflake. On to the story...  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Lily!" James called out in the dark hall he was running down. 'Where is she?' he thought to himself. He was so angry at those stupid ditzes back at the Great Hall. He had been searching everywhere for Lily for the past ten minutes. He hadn't found her yet and what just made things worse was now he was lost. He sighed in frustration. When he was just about ready to yell out 'Lily' again, he bumped into something as he walked a few steps backward. He turned around and he saw an older boy around 15 or 16 with a prefects badge on.  
  
"What are you doing wandering out in the halls. You're supposed to be in the Great Hall with the rest of the first years." The boy said, sternly.  
  
"Sorry. I got lost when I went to look for my friend. You haven't seen her, have you? She's a first year like me, with dark red hair, green eyes, pale skin. She would have probably been upset if you seen her." James said all of this quickly.  
  
"As a matter of fact I did come across a first year. Was her name Lily? Lily Evans I believe her name was." the Prefect said.  
  
James breathed a sigh in relief, "Yes. That was her. Did you see where she went?"  
  
The prefect nodded, "Yes I just took her up to the Gryffindor Tower. Come with me. I'll lead you there. I'm Arthur by the way. Arthur Weasly. 5th year Gryffindor prefect."  
  
"James Potter." James replied.  
  
When the two reached the portriat of the fat lady, Arthur explained to James about the password and such. "This weeks password is 'Quidditch'. Don't forget it. The new one will be posted in the common room when it changes. Now get inside, I'm going back to the feast." James thanked Arthur and hurried into the common room. He was marveling at how elegent it looked when his eyes trailed over to the red couch in front of the fireplace. Lily was sitting there, quietly, just staring at the fire. James walked slowly over to her. When she heard his footsteps, she turned to look at him, giving him a watery smile.  
  
"Hey James." she said quietly, "How'd you find this place?"  
  
"I met a Gryffindor prefect in the halls. He told me you were in here." James explained. "Are you alright?"  
  
Lily giggled a little, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just being a baby. I shouldn't have let those girls get to me."  
  
"No Lily. It was their fault they can't behave like civilized humans. They were just being stuck up snobs that think they're better than everyone else." James cut in, sharply.  
  
Lily looked over at him, smiling a little, "I think they liked you." she said simply.  
  
James was taken aback by that comment, "What? What makes you say that?"  
  
Lily shrugged, "The moment they started to talk to you, their voices got all sweet an innocent. Plus they were batting their eyelashes and flipping their hair. That's the girl's number one 'law of flirting'." she said, knowingly. She was now smiling fully, enjoying teasing her best friend.  
  
James looked disgusted, "Well if that's what they were trying to do, they went about it the wrong way."  
  
"Oh yeah and why's that?" Lily giggled.  
  
James looked at her and grinned, "Anyone who knows me knows not to insult my friends in front of me. Especially my best friend."  
  
Lily looked down at her hands, "Where's the rest of them?" she asked, meaning Sirius, Remus, and Peter.  
  
"They're still at the Great Hall, chewing the air-heads out." James said, shrugging.  
  
Lily looked up at him, eyes wide, "You guys don't have to keep coming to my rescue"  
  
James shrugged again, "We know. But we like to come to a damsel in distress, and you my Lady Lily flower, " he added, talking in a medievel accent, "are our favorite one." he flung his arm over her shoulders, confortingly.  
  
She snuggled up to him, feeling safe, "I really missed you James." she said quietly after a few moments of silence.  
  
He tightened his grip on her, "I missed you too, flower. I don't know how many nights I would just stay up and think about you."  
  
Lily felt tears prickling her eyes again, "Same here." although she had cried instead of just think about him. "But" she added more cheerily, "we're here together now. It'll be just like old times." she started to smirk, ideas forming in her mind.  
  
James started to smirk as well, knowing what she meant. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"  
  
"Yep! As Snape likes to call us, the 'Amazing Duo' is back together and is about to wreck havoc on Hogwarts." Lily said, smiling brightly. At that moment, people started to enter the common room. Sirius, Remus, and Peter looked around and spotted the two sitting on the couch.  
  
"Lily! Are you alright?" Remus ran up, worry etched in his voice.  
  
"We told those bimbos where they could go!" Sirius said, running up to them, Peter trailing behind.  
  
"Well, acually, Sirius told 'those bimbos' where they could go. Peter and I used a little more civilized tatic to tell the girls off." Remus said, glaring a little at Sirius.  
  
"What? They had it coming after what they said to Lily." Sirius said, defending himself. Remus thought about this for a moment, then nodded.  
  
"I'm fine. Don't worry. James calmed me down and I'm 100% back to normal... in fact, I do believe I have an idea for a little prank we could pull tomorrow on our oh-so-favorite Slytherians." Lily stated, immediatly earning the attention of all four boys.  
  
"Ohh. Do tell." Sirius persisted.  
  
"Gather 'round." Lily said, adopting a mysterious voice. Sirius sat down on the other side of Lily, and Remus and Peter took the ground in front of Lily. James turned to look at Lily. "Ok. Here's what we do..."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N- ok that's the end of that chapter. Now, as promised, here's the preview to the next chapter:  
  
* "You think you're so cool, don't you Evans. Hanging out with James Potter and his gang. Well let me set the record straight, you're nothing but 'mudblood' filth" Cassandra spat out angrilly.  
  
* "James what's a 'mudblood'?" Lily asked. James turned to look at her, fury in his eyes, "Where'd you hear that word?"  
  
* "Sirius, quiet down! Lily's just given the signal." Remus said. "I hope this works" Sirius said, excitingly. 


	11. What's a Mudblood?

The next morning, Lily woke up to the sound of her alarm clock. She quickly turned it off before it woke the other girls up. It was now two months that Lily and her friends were at Hogwarts. After the 'Barbie' prank (A/N- I won't go into too much detail there. Let's just say Snape and Malfoy made the name 'Malibu Barbie'...er...well...a bit more...muscular) they pulled on the Slytherians the first day of school, the entire Hogwarts population knew who James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew were. They even had quite a few admirers. They were famous. Lily, aside from her bratty roommates, was pretty popular as well. Hanging out with the famous pranksters and being James Potter's best girl friend did wonders for her reputation. She had even had quite a few invitations for dates, despite her only being an eleven year old. But, of course, James, Sirius, and Remus made sure that she didn't accept any of them. In fact, Lily's invitations were dying down, mostly because of her friends glares and threats to any boy that even looked at her. None the less, Lily and the boys were still as close as ever.  
  
Lily got up, quietly. She took a quick shower, dried her hair, and changed into her Hogwarts uniforms and robes. By the time she got out of the bathroom, her roommates were already up. Cassandra took this time to give Lily her little 'I hate you' speech with Stacy and Kelly giving their petty 'like, yeah's and 'like, totally!'. It had become some sort of a tradition in the first year Gryffindor girl's dormitory, ever since they figured out they wouldn't be able to go out with James Potter or any of his gang. And, naturally, they blamed it all on Lily.  
  
"Well well well. If it isn't our own little redheaded beauty outcast. Taking up all the time you could possibly have to 'try' and make yourself look as beautiful as us? Oh sorry dearie but... it didn't work. You're still as ugly as the first time we saw you." Cassandra said, snottily.  
  
"Like, yeah!" Stacy said stupidly.  
  
"Like, totally!" Kelly put her line in like a good little sheep.  
  
Lily raised an eyebrow at them. Cassandra had yet to wach her face and bruch her hair. She looked like the Wicked Witch of the West. Her two followers weren't looking much better.  
  
"Have you looked in a mirror today, hun? I think even 'Snape' could beat you in a beauty contest with the way you look right now." Lily said in a mock sweet, innocent voice. Cassandra and the other two paled for a second. They rushed into the bathroom. Lily shook her head, disgustedly. As she was gathering all her books and stuff together, the three walked back out, looking sluttier than ever. Cassandra stalked up to Lily, angrily.  
  
"You think you're so cool, don't you Evans? Hanging out with James Potter and his gang. Well let me set the record straight, you're nothing but 'mudblood' filth" Cassandra spat out angrily. The other two were behind her, nodding their heads and glaring daggers at Lily.  
  
Lily just snorted and walked off. That made the other three girls even more angry. Of course, Lily didn't care by now what the air-heads had to say. In fact, they even helped Lily out a bit, unintentionally mind you. Lily's confidence kept building itself up day after day of standing up to them. Now, whenever they insulted her, she insulted them back or ignored them completely. She knew it bugged them whenever she ignored them, so it was her best weapon against them  
  
They had called her 'mudblood' almost everyday when James, Sirius, Remus, or even Peter was in the room. Lily still had no clue what it meant, so it really didn't bother her. Well, it 'did' bother her. But that was only because Lily 'didn't' know what it meant. If she knew what it meant, she would be able to stick up for herself more. So, today, she decided to ask James what it meant.  
  
When Lily reached the common room, she noticed only James was the only occupant. When he turned and noticed her, she smiled at him.  
  
"Hey. Where's the others?" she asked.  
  
He smiled at her as well, "They're down at the Great Hall already. You've got everything planned out don't you?"  
  
"Yep. Do they remember the signal they're suppose to wait for?" she said, after mentally going over everything they needed.  
  
He nodded, "Yep. I made sure to remind Remus on the way out. Really no point to remind Sirius, he'll just forget it anyway." they both laughed at that comment. It was so true. Don't get them wrong, they loved him like a brother, but come on, the guy can't remember his own birthday.  
  
"What about Peter? Is he already in position?" Lily asked.  
  
"Yeah. I think he's a bit nervous, though. Poor guy. You sure it was a good idea letting him do it alone?" James asked, a little worried for him wimpy friend.  
  
"I'm positive. If one of us were with him, it would ruin the plan. Think about it." she replied. James considered her answer for a moment before nodding.  
  
"Well. We'd better head down to our positions. Sirius is probably driving Remus mad by now." James said, leading Lily out the portrait hole.  
  
They walked in silence, side by side, for a couple of minutes until Lily said, almost timidly, "James what's a mudblood?" James turned to look at her, fury in his eyes. "Where'd you hear that word?"  
  
The tone in his voice startled her. "Oh, uh, my roommates keep calling me that. And Snape and Malfoy seem to call me that whenever you, Sirius or Remus aren't around. I just figured it was a point-less insult." she finished with a shrug.  
  
James looked like he was going to explode at any moment. With his teeth clentched, he asked Lily, "Your roommates..." he looked like he was trying to stay calm, "and Malfoy and Snape.... called you a mudblood?" Lily nodded, looking confused.  
  
"It's no big deal James. Really. I don't care what they call me. And, what I don't even know can't hurt me can it?" Lily said, trying to calm him down.  
  
"No Lily. It 'is' a big deal. A 'mudblood' is a terrible insult that prejustice little gits like your roommates and those nasty Slytherian prats call wizards and witches that have muggles as parents. It means dirty blood." he practically growled the last part.  
  
Lily was a bit surprised. How could some wizards be so narrow minded that they cannot accept muggle-borns into their world. Nonetheless, Lily did not want James, or any of the guys, to cause a big scene over her, so she still tried to calm him, "James, really, it's no big deal. Maybe...maybe they feel a bit jealous or something. I know this morning, Cassandra was ranting on about how I thought I was so cool because I hung out with you and Sirius and Remus and Peter. They were probably feeling... I don't know... 'threatened' or something. And Malfoy and Snape... you shouldn't even waste your time thinking about those gits. You know they insult me because they think you'll do something drastic and get kicked out."  
  
James seemed to consider this for a moment. Lily saw he was backing down so she said, "And you'll be paying them back by this prank we're pulling right now." This seemed to convince James. He grinned and nodded.  
  
"You're right, Flower. Come on. We don't want to keep our Slytherian friends waiting now do we?" he said, grabbing Lily's hand and dragging her down the hall.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~ "Where are they? They're late." Sirius grumbled, looking around the Great Hall for any signs of Lily or James.  
  
"I don't know. But here comes Peter. Looks like he finished his part." Remus said, looking at the entrance of the Great Hall. Peter took a seat across from Remus and Sirius. When he saw the two looking at his with waiting expressions he nodded slightly and whispered so no one around him could hear, "Mission accomplished." As he said this, Malfoy, Snape, and a guy named Ricky Avery walked into the Great Hall, looking as sour and cold as usual.  
  
"Look. There's Lily and James." Sirius said, suddenly. Remus shushed him and motioned for Sirius to keep it down. James and Lily slipped into the Hall, unnoticed by anyone other than their three friends. The two snuck over to a nearby window curtain and slipped behind it. The curtain covered them so no one could see them, and it convenietly was right behind the three targeted Slytherians.  
  
Sirius suddenly got the overwhelming urge to start singing his ABC's. "A, B, C, D, E-" he was cut  
  
"Sirius quiet down! Lily's just given the signal." Remus said.  
  
"I hope this works." Sirius said, excitedly.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N- I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while. Been a bit busy. Well anyway, What'd ya think? Since I got 8 reviews this time, I guess I have to give 8 bits from my next chapter. Here goes:  
  
*"POTTER!!! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!!!" Malfoy shouted out over the laugher in the Great Hall.  
  
*"This little war between you and the Slytherians has gone on for long enough. I suggest you all get your acts together if you would like to stay here for the remainder of the terms" McGonagall said, sternly.  
  
*"This is 'all' my fault!" Lily said, guiltily. The four boys turned to look at her.  
  
*"So, you three have been calling Lily a 'mudblood', huh?" James and Sirius both glared at Cassandra and her loyal companions.  
  
*"Thanks for sicking your 'protectors' on us, Evans. Just remember, you may not always have them around to stand up for you." Cassandra said, angrily.  
  
*"There will be a Christmas Ball this year for the first time in over a century." Dumbledore annonced.  
  
*"ANOTHER owl!" Sirius exclaimed, "What's it say this time, Lily? 'Am I the one hundreth asker?' This is getting rediculous!"  
  
*"James, don't!" Lily pleaded, trying to pull him back down. It was no use, "I Have an announcment to make. Lily Evans will 'not' be accepting any offers to the Christmas Ball. So STOP ASKING!!!" 


	12. The Big Prank!

~~~With Lily and James~~~  
  
They had just entered the Great Hall, unnoticed by any of the other students. After hiding behind a long curtain behind their chosen victims, Lily and James pulled out their wands.  
  
"You sure this will work, Lils?" James said, a little skeptical about this whole thins, "I mean, we're only first years. This is like 6th year Charms were about to do."  
  
Lily sighed, exasperated. "James, we've been through this a hundred times. I'm the one doing the complicated stuff. And you know I'm top of the class in Charms, I'm pretty sure I can handle this."  
  
"Yeah, but wouldn't this kind of. I don't know. hurt you in anyway. What if you accidentally did something wrong?" James asked, still looking a little uneasy.  
  
Lily turned and looked straight at him, raising one of her eyebrows. He silently kicked himself because of his own stupidity. If there was one thing Lily loved over he friends and family, it was Charms. She absolutely 'never' messed up on anything that had to do with it.  
  
"James, are you crazy? And anyway, if I 'do' something wrong, that's one of the reasons you and the other two are doing that other curse. Your spell helps me and my spell so it's stronger so I actually 'can' accomplish it. 'If' I do something wrong, I can stop doing the spell, unharmed if you three stay with me through the whole spell." Lily said, assuring him that she'd be fine.  
  
He slug one arm over her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "All right. Let's get this show on the road." Lily smirked and peeked out the curtains, catching Remus' eye and nodding to him. Remus understood and nudged Sirius, who had just starting singing out, loudly, his ABC's.  
  
Lily turned back to James, smiled and nodding, "Right then. One the count of three, start saying your words.  
  
"One." Lily said, softly. James took her hand and said, "Two." they half grinned, half smirked at each other and said together, "Three." James pointed his wand at Snape, while Remus, all the way across the room, pointed his at Avery, and Sirius pointed his at Malfoy, each muttering the same words at the exact same time over and over, almost incoherently. "materia slakeos areneksia coheman ouctpes"  
  
On their fifth time saying it, Lily pointed her wand at the three Slytherians and started to say her spell. "Farias corhemious pixius, lepriconious transcourpous impendioumus, barbious dubious ditious" the tip of her wand started to glow after she said these words. She didn't stop, though; her words were getting louder, stronger, and more forceful. No one else in the Hall noticed any of this as Lily continued, "Sientein somplaout weekous!" James could feel Lily weaken so he put more effort into his spell. They went on for another five minutes, Lily saying different words. Then finally she finished the spell, saying, "CONTRACTIOUNS INFINITE!"  
  
Immediately, everyone in the Great Hall stopped talking at once, seeing the Marauder's newest prank. Snape was no longer Snape. Snape was a fairy. Not a real fairy, mind you. He was dressed in a green pixie dress and even had little wings. He looked ready to kill when he realized what he was wearing. He opened his mouth to shout out something that would have made his mother die of shock, but all that came out of his mouth was nursery rhythms.  
  
"Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep and can't tell where to find them  
  
Leave them alone and they'll come home,  
  
Bringing their tails behind them"  
  
When he finished, he looked as sour as ever and his face was scarcely close to that of a tomato. Everyone, other than the Slytherians and some of the teachers (McGonagall and Graves 'the Potions master and head of Slytherian house'), were laughing good-naturedly. "Hey Mother Goose, try looking up your ass, maybe you'll find your sheep up there!" someone shouted out, earning a stern glare from McGonagall. "Love the look, Tinker Bell!" a girl from the Ravenclaw table shouted. "Always knew you were a fairy, Sarah! Oops I mean Snape!" a third year Gryffindor boy shouted after.  
  
Then, Malfoy stood up, indignant, though no one could really see him. He was about two feet tall and dressed in a leprechaun outfit. "Hey Darby O'Gill, where's your little people?!" another student shouted out. Another kid, he must have been a muggle-born because he knew the jingle, shouted out, "Heart, stars, horse-shoes, clovers, and blue moons," some more people gather in, "pots of gold, and rainbows, and the red balloons." Malfoy, like Snape, tried to shout out some bad words, but when he opened his mouth, he started to say in an Irish accent, much like the muggle commercial:  
  
"They're always after me Lucky Charms!"  
  
Most of the kids didn't understand what he meant by that, since they weren't muggle-born, but nonetheless they found it absolutely hilarious. After the laughter subsided, everyone turned their attention to Avery, who had yet to attempt to talk. He glared daggers at everyone, especially some Hufflepuff girls that shrieked quite loudly, "Like, oh my God, his hair is, like, so cuter than mine!" Another boy from the Ravenclaw table shouted, "Hey Barbie, look down to your right and you'll find your Ken!" (meaning Malfoy). Avery opened his mouth, forgetting what might happen if he did so, and he started to sing in a ditzy voice: "I'm a Barbie girl in a Barbie world  
  
Life in plastic, it's fantastic  
  
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere  
  
Imagination, life is your creation"  
  
Again, only the muggle-borns had ever heard of this so they were the ones laughing the loudest. Although, whether they knew the song or not, everyone else was laughing as hard as they could. You could hear the words "Queer." And "Cross dressers." among the crowd of people.  
  
To make matters worse (for the three Slytherians) letters, bright red and gold letters, spelling out the words 'Gryffindor's #1!'. While everyone was still distracted by the message, Lily and James slipped out of the curtains and snuck over to the Gryffindor table, where Sirius, Peter and Remus were laughing so hard, tears were coming out of their eyes. When Lily and James slipped into their seats, they immediately started talking to them, "Brilliant! Simply brilliant. Who, again, came up with this clever prank?" Sirius wheezed out.  
  
"That would be Lily. I must say Lils, that's pretty impressive." James said, not trying to hide the pride in his voice when he told Sirius that.  
  
"Which parts the impressive one? The part where I came up with the prank or the part with me doing 6th year Charms?" Lily asked.  
  
"Actually both were pretty impressive. Though, I don't understand why that's 6th year Charms." Remus answer for James, a little confused.  
  
"Didn't I tell you?" Lily asked, but when she saw all four heads shake 'no', she continued, grinning widely, "Every time they talk, there supposed to say something that's related to what they're dressed as, there might be something wrong with that, though, I don't know if I got that spell totally right. So they may be able to talk normally for a while. And, this spell is going to last for one full week. No counter-curse." Lily finished smugly. That caused the other four to crack up laughing once again, blending in with the still hysteric crowd in the Hall.  
  
Just at that moment, Malfoy stood up on his chair "POTTER!!! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!!!" he shouted out over the laughter in the Great Hall.  
  
"Guess he 'can' talk for now." Lily managed to get out, she herself giggling.  
  
"Potter, Black, Evans, Lupin, and Pettigrew! Come with me!" McGonagall said sternly. Lily looked up to where Dumbledore was seated to see his reactions. He, surprisingly, was smiling, trying not to laugh and look stern. Quite a different reaction to Professor McGonagall, who the five followed after, receiving applause and cat-calls from the many admirers. When the six of them reached her office, they all stood around her desk where she sat, nervously glancing at one another. McGonagall didn't hesitate to skip right to the point.  
  
"I am absolutely disgusted with this rebellious act on your behalves. You're 11 years old. I would think that would be old enough to act a little mature, or at least act your age." She started, each one of the 11 year olds wincing with each word she said. "You will be given detention every night for the next 2 months for your lack of common sense." Lily immediately panicked. Two months! That was the worst punishment they had received yet! It was her fault they were in here in the first place. She came up with the plan. She talked the others into it (well mostly Peter, the others were practically giddy when she mentioned the word 'prank'). But that wasn't the point. They didn't really deserve the detentions, she did. After all, all they did was perform a curse to keep her strength up. That had nothing to do with what happened to Snape, Malfoy and Avery. Lily broke out of her train of thought when McGonagall spoke once again.  
  
"This little war between you and the Slytherians has gone on for long enough. I suggest you all get your acts together if you would stay here for the remainder of the term" McGonagall said, sternly. "You may go". The five walked out the door, their heads hung in shame.  
  
Once they were out of her office and walking back to the Gryffindor common room, the silence was unbearable to Lily. Though, if the corridors hadn't been so dark, she would have seen the smiles on the boys' faces. Instead, she thought they were mad at her. When they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, where there was more light so she could see where they were, she stomped her foot, tears threatening to spill. "This is 'all' my fault!" Lily said, guiltily. The four boys turned to look at her. "If it hadn't been for me, none of this would have happened. I came up with the plan, I did the spell, I- ," Lily rambled on.  
  
"Lily! What are you talking about" Remus interrupted her.  
  
"Yeah, and what are you trying to do? Take all the credit for our awesome prank. Nu uh, no way." Sirius said, with an amused glint in his eyes.  
  
Lily's brow furrowed in confusion, "You're-you're not mad?" she asked them, disbelievingly. James raised an eyebrow at her.  
  
"Mad for what? Lily, have you not been paying attention at all when Sirius or I talk?" James asked.  
  
"Actually, it's probably a good thing. If she did pay attention every time you or Sirius talked, her IQ was drop probably down to her age." Remus joked.  
  
"Ha.ha.ha" Sirius said, mock glaring.  
  
"Anyway" James cut in, "Lily, we 'want' to get detention."  
  
Lily looked confused once again, "Why?'  
  
"Cuz, we're going to attempt to break the Hogwarts detention record. We have to reach over 500 while we're here. Thanks to this newest prank, we just got about 60 more." Sirius said, looking absolutely ecstatic.  
  
"Thank goodness. I thought you guys would be mad at me or something." Lily sighed in relief. James looked at her straight in the eye.  
  
"There is no way we could ever be mad at you, Flower." Sirius, Remus and Peter nodded in agreement.  
  
"Yeah Lils, your just like a sister to us." Sirius said, flinging an arm over her shoulder in an act of friendship.  
  
"I still can't believe my luck of befriending the four most wonderful guys in the world" Lily said, smiling widely at each of them. Inwardly, the four boys were thinking along the same lines about Lily. She was so close to each of them and they would cherish her friendship forever.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N- how's that. Sorry I didn't post some of the things I had in the preview. I promise, next chapter, I'll include the rest in there. Thank you to all who reviewed and I'm so sorry it took a while for me to get this updated. Anyway, I got four reviews and you know what that means. Here's the four part preview.  
  
*"I don't understand why you actually hang out with her. She's got no backbone and she's not even pretty." Cassandra said, snottily. James turned to her, his face contorted in a glare that would have scared off Snape.  
  
*"Guys, I have to leave for a couple of days. My mom's sick and I'm going to visit her." Remus said, looking a little nervous. Lily noticed this, but didn't say anything.  
  
*"What's so funny?" James asked, looking up. "I just saw Snape and Malfoy trying to tell of a first year Ravenclaw. It was hilarious!" Lily giggled.  
  
* How shocked she was when approximately 50 owls made their way over to Lily, dropping the letters all over her, burying her in the process. 


	13. The Christmas Ball Announced

The next morning, Lily told the guys she planned on spending the day in the library studying. Normally, Sirius or James would try and make her stay and do something with them, so it was a big surprise that Sunday when James and Sirius didn't object.  
  
"Sure Lil. Go on and have fun." James said, seeming distracted. Lily, Remus, Sirius, and Peter all stared at him as though he were mental. James caught Sirius' eyes and Sirius understood what James was up to and nodded slightly.  
  
"O-ok. So.I guess I'll see ya later?" She asked more than said. She was still waiting for them to object, but James and now Sirius nodded wide, fake smiles on their faces.  
  
"Yeah. We'll see you at dinner." Sirius said.  
  
"Actually Lily, I think I could use some time in the library, too. I think I'll go with you." Remus said, still eying the two boys curiously.  
  
"Yeah me too." Peter said.  
  
"Ok." She turned to look at James and Sirius, "Well.bye" Then just smiled and nodded. Then the three others left, shaking their heads, confused.  
  
When James was sure the portrait shut, he turned to look at Sirius, "I think it's time we had a talk with three certain air-heads."  
  
Sirius smirked, "I do believe I heard some mindless gaggling up in Lily's dorm. Maybe we should look in there." He said, playing along. James mocked a look of surprise.  
  
"We didn't I think of that." Then he turned serious, "Let's go." The two boys marched up the steps. They didn't even bother to knock when they reached the door, they just shoved it open. Cassandra and her two followers were sitting on her bed, gossiping. When they heard their door open, they glared over, expecting Lily to walk through. They were shocked when they saw James and Sirius, the two hottest boys in school in their opinion standing in the doorway.  
  
"James. Sirius." Cassandra said, putting on a sweet façade. "What a surprise to see you two here. To what do we owe the pleasure?"  
  
They decided to cut right to the chase, so Sirius said, "So, you three have been calling Lily a mudblood, huh" James and Sirius both glared at Cassandra and her loyal companions.  
  
Cassandra and the two others paled a bit, but tried not to let it show. Cassandra shrugged her shoulders, "So what if we have?"  
  
James walked up to Cassandra, slowly, "I don't like to hear that word. I think it's filthy and only defensive people that are jealous use it to make themselves feel all big and powerful. If I ever hear that word coming from you or one of your mindless sheep," he glanced over at Stacy and Kelly, "especially when it's directed at one of my best friends, I'll make sure you get expelled from this school faster than you can say 'lipgloss'. And don't think for a moment that I'm joking around."  
  
Cassandra looked angry. Did these people not know who she was or who her father was? "Oh yeah. And how on earth would you be able to do that?"  
  
Sirius raised an eyebrow disgustedly at the girl, "Do you not know who his father is?"  
  
Cassandra glared at Sirius, "Do you not know who 'my' father is. Like, hellooo, Jacob Wellington III? Famous Assistant Minister of Magic?"  
  
James said, "I know very well who your father is. I've met him plenty of times before. You 'must' not know who my father is if you're bragging about 'that'."  
  
Cassandra crossed her arms over her chest, angrily. "And just who, prey tell, 'is' your father? The way your talking about him you'd think he was 'Merlin' himself."  
  
"Lord, Cassandra! You don't even know who your father's 'boss' is?!" Sirius exclaimed.  
  
Cassandra, Stacy and Kelly all paled considerably. "M-my father's 'boss'?! Y-Your father's the 'Minister of MAGIC'!" Cassandra screeched.  
  
"Cassandra, you are several dozens points short of being an idiot. Where the bloody hell have you been for the passed 20 years." James said, disbelievingly.  
  
Cassandra and the other two girls looked at him confused for a full two minutes before Cassandra said snottily, "Was that an insult, Potter?"  
  
James and Sirius just exchanged glances, rolling their eyes, "I'm not even going to grace that with an answer, Wellington. Just remember, never" James lowered his voice warningly, "never.. insult.. Lily.. again. With my father being who he is, I can get you kicked out of this school in a heartbeat." Then Sirius spoke, gaining James' attention.  
  
"Let's get out of here, James. I can feel my intelligence lowering by just being in the presence of these airheads." James nodded at him and the two started towards the door.  
  
"I don't understand why you actually hang out with her. She's got no backbone and she's not even pretty." Cassandra said, snottily. James turned to her, his contorted in a glare that would have even scared off Snape.  
  
"I don't think you understand anything other than the latest fashions. Stay away from her." James said, simply. He and Sirius walked out the room.  
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
Around twelve o'clock that night, everyone was in the common room. Sirius and Peter were playing wizard's chess with Sirius loosing horribly, James was frantically trying to finish his homework he left to the last minute, Remus was just staring at the fire deep in thought, and Lily was writing in her journal. They were the only ones in the common room; everyone else was in bed.  
  
Occasionally, Lily would look up from what she was writing and just studied the scenes around her. She knew her life was close to perfect. She had wonderful friends, a loving family, and she was getting a wonderful education that a lot of kids didn't have the opportunity for.  
  
"You know, Sirius, you didn't do your homework either. You'd better get on it if you want it done." James said, almost frantically.  
  
"I'll just copy yours" Sirius said, simply. James just rolled his eyes and shook his head. There was another comfortable moment of silence, but it was cut off abruptly when,  
  
"Guys, I have to leave for a couple of days. My mom's sick and I'm going to visit her." Remus said, looking a little nervous. Lily noticed this, but didn't say anything. "I'm supposed to leave tonight on the train."  
  
"Ok, Rem." James mumbled, still looking at his paper. Lily was still looking at him, studying his features. Remus didn't notice Lily's stare. He looked almost relieved when no one said anything else. This just confused Lily further. 'He's hiding something,' she thought to herself, 'and I'm gonna find out what it is.'  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
The next morning, Lily woke up at the same time as always. She showered as her roommates were waking up. She walked out of the bathroom, expecting the usual speech from Cassandra. The minute she walked out, she was a little surprised.  
  
"Thanks for setting your 'protectors' on us, Evans. Just remember, you may not always have them around to stand up for you." Cassandra said, angrily.  
  
Lily frowned, confused, "What are you talking about?"  
  
Cassandra ignored her, "Think you're pretty smart, huh? Let me just tell you this. You'll never be pretty or really popular. James, Sirius and Remus just hang out with you because they feel sorry for you. They just pity you, Evans. Soon, they may just run out of that pity." With that, Cassandra stomped, with Stacy and Kelly at her heels, into the bathroom. Lily just stood there, shocked.  
  
'What was that? Did James do something?' She pushed the thoughts out of her head anyway. She met up with the guys at the common room and the five of them walked to breakfast. Lily decided not to press the matter any further.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Later on that day, James, Sirius, and Peter (Remus had gone home last night) were sitting at the Gryffindor table for lunch. Lily had said she'd be there in a few minutes' she had to get some of her homework from her dormitories.  
  
"I'm telling you, Jamsie, this is the perfect prank to pull on the Slytherians." Sirius insisted.  
  
"Don't call me Jamsie. Anyway, Sirius, my idea is much better. Come on, Slytherians with red and gold skin! It's great. Unlike yours" James said, proudly.  
  
"Slytherians with lion tails? You don't think that's funny?" Sirius exclaimed. Remus and Peter rolled their eyes at their friends bickering.  
  
Just then, Lily skipped into the Great Hall, causing many guys' heads to turn her way in admiration. She was laughing so much, James and Sirius directed their attention on her.  
  
"What's up, Flower?" James asked, looking up.  
  
"I just saw Snape and Malfoy trying to tell off a first year Ravenclaw. It was hilarious! A-and that's not the best part." They stopped and listened to her. "Malfoy started to sing an Irish jig while he step danced and Snape started acting like the 'tooth fairy'! He gave them each a galleon, although you could see how much he despised it!" Lily giggled. The three boys burst out laughing when she was done. Then, Malfoy, Snape and Avery all walked in at the same time, same scowls on their faces. The four laughed harder.  
  
They calmed down somewhat when the Headmaster stood up, McGonagall tapping her water goblet to get the students attention.  
  
"There will be a Christmas ball this year for the first time in over a century." Dumbledore announced. "And it will be open to all years." He continued talking about it, but some people started up their own conversations, all talking about the ball. "Wow! A ball!" Lily said, "I've never been to one before."  
  
The boys weren't paying too much attention to her, though. They were to busy glaring daggers at every boy that started eying Lily (which was close to all the male population). James glared over at one particular fifth year Ravenclaw and put his arm across Lily's shoulder protectively. Lily still didn't notice what was happening outside her conversation with the only one who was really listening to her, Peter.  
  
"I wonder if it'll be a formal?" she thought out loud, James' arm still across her shoulder. She didn't even notice when Sirius scooted closer to her when he saw a Hufflepuff 3rd year stare at her.  
  
"What do you guys think?" she asked them, as they turned their attention back to her.  
  
"Uhh?" Sirius said, stupidly. He had no idea what she was talking about. He took a shot in the dark and said, "Yes?"  
  
Apparently it had been the right answer because she looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded her head, still looking pensive, "Yeah, I thought so. Pink would defiantly be a 'no' for the color of my gown."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The next morning, Lily and Peter were walking down to breakfast (James and Sirius said they'd be down there in about 10 minutes.  
  
When they reached the table, Peter started to stack his plate high with pancakes and sausage. Lily grabbed a few fruits and poured some pumpkin juice in her goblet. They were eating and occasionally making small talk for about five minutes when Lily looked up.  
  
"Mail's here." She said, perkily. "I wonder if my mom already got my letter." Then she saw an owl fly her way, "She must have. Here comes an owl now." Peter looked up from his plate and saw another one fly in, unnoticed by Lily, who was busy opening the letter in front of her.  
  
"Hmm." Lily mumbled, Peter looked over at her. "What's wrong?" he asked.  
  
Lily looked at him, distracted, "Hmm. What?" she glanced down at the letter, "Oh. Nothing's wrong. It's just a letter asking me to the dance."  
  
"Really? Who sent it" Peter asked curiously.  
  
She glanced at the letter again and said, "Jeremy Ground." She shrugged, "Never heard of him. Oh well, I'll just decline anyway." Then she went back to her fruit and Peter did the same with his pancakes. A few minutes later, another owl dropped a letter. Then another. Lily was starting to get confused as she opened them and each one said pretty much the same thing 'Will you go to the ball with me, Lily?' Pretty soon, 5 owls dropped letters.  
  
"Well, honestly." Lily said, exasperated. "This is going a tid bit too far. It's just a 'ball' for crying out loud." She looked around and said, "There. I think that was it." And she returned to her food.  
  
Peter looked around as well, only he noticed something she didn't and had to stifle a laugh.  
  
How shocked she was when approximately 50 owls made their way over to Lily, dropping the letters all over her, burying her in the process. Peter couldn't hold his laughter anymore. The sight was just too funny. It was at that moment James and Sirius made their way over to the table. They noticed Peter and a bunch of letters, but they couldn't see Lily anywhere.  
  
"Hey Pete. Where's Lily?" James asked.  
  
"And what are all these letters doing here?" Sirius asked confused. Peter was trying to calm himself down enough to talk when James and Sirius heard a muffled voice coming from the letters. They looked at the letters, then at each other, back at the letters, then at Peter, with amusement in their eyes.  
  
"Don't tell me she's.." James motioned his hands over to the letters, still looking at Peter.  
  
All Peter could do was laugh and nod. Soon he was joined by Sirius and James. James rushed over to the other side of the table and attempted to get Lily out of the pile. By now, the whole hall was watching with amusement, even the teachers. When James got Lily out of the pile, she was breathing hard and her hair was in disarray.  
  
He put both his hands on her shoulders to support her, still chuckling. "You ok, Flower?"  
  
Her eyes wide, she nodded slowly.  
  
"What on earth happened?" Sirius asked when the four of them were situated at the other end of the table.  
  
"I don't know. They just all came in and dropped letter upon letter on top of me." Lily said, shaking her head.  
  
"And they all said the same thing?" James asked.  
  
She nodded her head, "Yep. I think so. All asking if I'd go to the ball with them. Honestly, I'm not 'that' popular and pretty!" she exclaimed.  
  
The boys just raised one eyebrow at her. "Well I'm not." She said, meekly. They chuckled and got up o walk to class.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
The next weeks were like that. Every morning, Lily would be piled up in love letters and such. That, or she would be asked directly. In that case, she would decline politely and James, Sirius, or Remus (who was back by now) would glare at them so harshly that the boys would cower back in fear.  
  
3 weeks after Dumbledore made the announcement, Lily's letters were dying down, but not by much. That morning at the breakfast table, all five of them were sitting and eating and talking when the dreaded mail arrived. They all groaned. Sure at first the guys thought it was hilarious. But now, it got to be 'so' annoying. The only good that came out of it was that it made Cassandra and her two friends mad.  
  
An owl made her way over to Lily.  
  
"ANOTHER owl!" Sirius exclaimed, "What is it this time, Lily? 'I'm I the one hundredth asker?' This is getting ridiculous!"  
  
Lily just raised her eyebrows and nodded wordlessly. Then James decided enough was enough.  
  
"That's it. This has gone on long enough. I'm putting an end to this." He said, starting to stand up.  
  
"James, don't!" Lily pleaded, trying to pull him back down. It was no use. 'Oh gosh, this is going to be 'so' embarrassing' she thought to herself miserably. Then he said it.  
  
"I have an announcement to make. Lily Evans will 'not' be accepting any offers to the Christmas Ball. So STOP ASKING!!!"  
  
Most of the males in the hall groaned as Lily held her face in her hands, her face 'burning' with humiliation.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N- how was that? Sorry it took me so long to update. My computer wasn't working too well. Anyway, thank you to my reviewers Alexa Daniell Black, Shorti, Lyz, and Shinning Crystal. Here's the preview for the next chapter:  
  
* "I know what you are, Remus." He looked up, in shock.  
  
* "Lily? Are you alright?" he asked as her face drained of color.  
  
* "B-but where will I stay?" she asked, tears streaming down her face.  
  
* "You've been such a good friend this year James. The best actually." She said as she kissed him on the cheek.  
  
What happened to Lily? What is Remus' reaction when Lily tells him she knows? Stay tuned. We'll be back with 'Is It Really You?' after these messages. ;-) 


	14. Many Happenings

After the whole 'James shouting in the Hall' incident, Lily's invitations stopped almost immediately. The months passed, along with the Christmas ball. Though Lily was humiliated by James, she knew he was just being protective of her so she didn't get angry with him. She ended up going to the Christmas ball looking stunning and, nevertheless, got asked by many boys to dance. All of which she, or shall I say the future marauders, declined.  
  
With the whole ball out of the way, everything pretty much went back to normal. Everything except for Remus, that is. Lily had noticed him acting strange every now and then. He would leave school once a month saying he had a 'sick mother' and had to visit her. Every time he said this, she would get more and more suspicious, but would never say anything. But something kept nagging her in the back of her mind. She obviously knew he was lying to them and she couldn't help but wonder, 'Where does Remus go every month?'  
  
Then, one day while she was in the library, she found her answer. She was just writing an essay Professor Grain assigned for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Lily was leafing through her textbook, when she came across a lunar chart. She stared at the paper for a moment, almost in a trance. 'There's something about this page..... there's a connection here... somewhere...' her eyes widened in disbelief when she realized something. 'Oh my gosh' she thought to herself. She sat at the table for a couple of minutes, not moving. 'Poor Remus.'  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Later that night, Lily waited until James, Sirius and Peter went to bed. Remus was working on his Potions homework and she was reading one of her favorite muggle fantasy novels, 'Peter Pan'. As soon as she was certain it was just she and Remus left in the common room, she put her book down.  
  
"Remi, can I talk to you?" she asked, not getting up from her spot on the couch. He made a 'mh-hmm' noise, meaning 'yeah', but he didn't look up from his homework. She just sighed and rolled her eyes, 'Great, he won't even pay attention.' She then took a deep breath, 'I had better just say it quickly.'  
  
"I know what you are, Remus." He looked up, in shock. 'She doesn't mean.. She 'couldn't' mean..' He thought in shock. He decided to feign confusion.  
  
"What do you mean?" he asked, brows furrowed, trying to fool her. He got up and stretched, trying to look like he was tired and was ready to go to bed so he could get out of there. She just rolled her eyes in amusement and chuckled a little.  
  
"Remi, please. Give me a little credit. I mean, I know I haven't known you for a long time or anything, but still I know you a little more than 'that'. Don't even try to play dumb with me." She told him, "I know you're a werewolf." He paled at that, swaying a little but not sitting back down. He averted his eyes to the floor, trying to hide the tears that were welling up in them.  
  
"I guess you know my secret then. I'm sorry I lied to you." He said sadly, then he looked straight into Lily's eyes "well I guess that's the last time I'll be talking to you."  
  
Lily looked confused, "Why do you say that?"  
  
Remus looked at her like she was crazy, "You don't want to be my friend anymore. I understand that.."  
  
Lily jumped up out of her seat and ran over to him, almost knocking him to the floor when she engulfed him in a gigantic hug that took him completely by surprise. "Remus, I would never do that to you." She said quietly, but sternly. When she let go of him, he looked shocked.  
  
"W-why would you still want to be friends with me. I'm nothing but a beast." He asked, eyes wide.  
  
She shook her head. "No you're not. You're, well, you're just... Remus." She said nonchalantly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Though the words were simple, they meant the world to Remus at that moment. He looked at her hopefully.  
  
"Really? You're-you're not, ya know, upset or scared?"  
  
"Think of it this way, Remus." She reasoned, "You transform, what, once a month? And at that time, it's not really you anyway. And if it is, it's not as though you can help it." She shrugged, "It's not your fault. You didn't ask for this, did you?"  
  
He shook his head slowly. She snapped her fingers and shrugged again, rationalizing. "See? You didn't ask to be a werewolf; it's not your fault." He still didn't look convinced, so she went on, "Remus, I'm going to tell you what my mom told me when my sister everytime my sister made fun of me for being a witch. She said, 'Most people see what is, and never see what can be.' If people find out, so what if they avoid you. They're the ones missing out." Remus looked up at her.  
  
"Thank you, Lily." He said, his words sounded so sincere, as though he couldn't believe this was actually happening. Your mother sounds smart. She must be pretty special. Did she come up with that saying?" He asked, noticing the spark Lily got in her eye when she spoke of her mother. Lily smiled when she heard that.  
  
"No, she heard it from a really smart guy. His name was Albert Einstein." He looked confused so she said, "A famous muggle genious. But yeah, she really is special to me. She's a lovely woman. So full of life. Just like my dad. They're great. I love my parents." She stood up and starting to walk to the staircase, then she turned around and looked at him again, "Are you planning to tell James and Sirius and Peter?"  
  
He looked terrified at the thought. "'One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.' She says that a lot also." Lily said, noticing the scared look. After she said that, she smiled at him, turned, and walked up the steps, leaving Remus standing in the middle of the common room to think about what she had said.  
The next day, Remus told the other three.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Much to Remus' surprise and delight, the other three didn't care about him being a werewolf at all. In fact, James even said the same thing Lily said last night when Remus stated he was a beast.  
  
"You're not a 'beast'! You're just.. Remus." Then he shrugged his shoulders, like it was no big deal.  
  
That was when Remus decided he had the greatest friends in the world.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
After Remus told everyone his problem, the group of five was closer than ever. They supported him as much as they could. Sirius and James even came up with an idea at breakfast at breakfast one morning about two months after the secret spilling.  
  
Remus was engrossed in a book that was propped up on a jug of pumpkin juice. On her right, James was in a deep conversation with Sirius over something the rest couldn't hear. Lily was trying to help Peter catch up on his Charms homework. That was when Sirius cleared his throat and the others looked up at him expectantly.  
  
"Remus. James and I have come up with a plan that would help make your transformations a little better." Sirius said, seriously. (No pun intended)  
  
They all stared at him, waiting for him to continue. When it was apparent Sirius wasn't going to explain his idea, Peter raised his eyebrow and said slowly, "And....?"  
  
"Oh yeah, and we both think that we should become animagi." Sirius finished, nonchalantly.  
  
"What?" Remus almost shouted. Peter looked terrified at the thought and Lily looked as though she was in deep thought. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?!" Remus continued.  
  
"N-not to mention illegal." Peter managed to stutter out, his eyes widened in fear.  
  
"Sirius you've come up with some pretty stupid ideas before, I'll admit. I mean that thing with the rubber duckie and Mrs. Lewis down the street..that was bad enough. But James, I'd think you would have been the voice of reason-," Remus rambled on  
  
"I- I think it's a good idea." Lily said quietly, but no one heard her because James and Sirius started to argue, not paying attention to her. Only Peter heard her and he looked at her like she was crazy.  
  
"It's stupid. It's life-threatening. It's-," Remus said loudly. Thank goodness the Great Hall was almost empty since it was early Saturday morning.  
  
"It's a good idea. It will help you out. It's bloody brilliant." James said just as loudly. Lily opened her mouth to speak again.  
  
"I think it's a good idea." She said, a little louder. They still weren't listening. But this time, Sirius heard.  
  
"Guys! Shut up." Sirius shouted. They both stopped talking immediately. Then Sirius turned back to Lily, "What were you saying Lily?"  
  
"I said I think it's a good idea." Lily said, a little more confidence in her voice. James looked satisfied and looked over at Remus, smugly, who looked astonished that Lily didn't have more sense than that.  
  
"Lily? Are you alright? Do you have a fever?" Remus said, thinking that could be the only logical explanation to Lily's statement.  
  
Lily sighed and answered, "No Remi. I feel fine. But hear me out, ok?" Remus looked as though he might have objected, but then thought against it. Lily was usually more sensible than him, so she must have a good explanation. "If it will help your transformations, then I think we should do it." He opened his mouth to object.  
  
"Remus, either way we're going to do it. You know how James and Sirius are when they set their minds on something. But," she said all this quickly before Remus could object, "it would be easier to make the potion and actually accomplish this if you're behind us on this 100%."  
  
The other three boys looked at him, expectantly. Peter was shaking his head slightly and James and Sirius were looking apprehensive. Finally, Remus said, giving up, "All right. I guess there's nothing I can do to stop you anyway." A smile started on his face. The other 4 cheered.  
  
More people started to file in. It was around nine o'clock and the mail started pouring in also. The five friends were now discussing animagi potions and whatnot. Suddenly, a black crow landed next to Lily. Lily, thinking it was a letter from her parents, opened it cheerily. The boys, except for James, were too engrossed in their conversation and didn't pay attention to her reading the letter. When James saw her reaction, he was immediately concerned about her.  
  
"Lily? Are you alright?" he asked as her face drained of color. Tears were threatening stream down her face and her bottom lip started to tremble. She just stared at the letter in her hands, re-reading line after line. Remus, Sirius and Peter looked up as well. When she didn't answer, James almost whispered, "Lily?"  
  
She inhaled a shaking breath and said so softly they could barely hear her, "They're gone." With that, she jumped up and ran out the doors of the Great Hall. Many students looked up from what they were doing, curious as to what was going on. The four boys stared at the piece of paper Lily had left on the table. James picked it up and began to read it. His eyes widened as he read the letter. Without warning, he shot up out of his seat and ran to find the distraught Lily. The remaining three boys looked at each other, shocked, and they practically trampled on the table to grab the letter. Remus held it in his hands, with Sirius and Peter on either sides of him, and they all read the letter. Sirius was about ready to jump up and run after Lily, himself, but Remus grabbed his arm and shook his head slightly, and said softly, "Let James do it." Sirius then nodded his head and sat back down. They felt so bad for Lily.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Lily ran up to the astronomy tower. As soon as she reached it, she collapsed on the ground and cried her heart out. Her parents were gone. Kill.. By Voldemort. She loved her parents so much. They were so kind and loving. Why? Why would someone kill them? Could someone really be that cruel and heartless? Apparently so.  
  
She sobbed loudly and kept mumbling over and over, "Why?" That was how James found her.  
  
"Lily?" he asked softly. She let out another sob and said in a chocked voice, "They're gone, James. M-my parents are gone. They left me." He rushed over to her and sat next to her, engulfing her in a comforting hug.  
  
"They didn't leave you, Lily. Nobody ever really leaves this world. Just as long as you keep them in your heart," he took her hand and placed it over her heart and continued, "and as long as you remember them and love them, they will never be gone."  
  
She kept crying, but listened to what he was saying, "B-but they're dead." She said in a small voice.  
  
He nodded sadly and just held her tighter; he chocked back tears that threatened to fall, "I know, flower. I know. I'll miss them too. They used to be just like my second parents."  
  
They sat that why for what had to be about 2 hours. Just holding each other and crying.  
  
"B-but where will I stay?" she asked, tears streaming down her face. James was startled to hear her voice; he thought she had gone to sleep. Nonetheless, he answered gently, "I'm sure you could stay at my house. Funnily enough, I forgot to owl my parents about seeing you, but I'm sure they'll be happy to take you in. They'll be just as upset as I am to hear about that. Your parents were my parents' best friends in the muggle world. They talked about you and your family all the time."  
  
"Same with my parents." Lily said dully.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
After the death of her parents, Lily withdrew herself more from what was going on around her. She didn't eat as much and one time Sirius could have swore he her Cassandra and her friends complaining about how they keep loosing their precious beauty sleep because 'that Evans girl has taken up a habit of waking up screaming and then cries herself back to sleep.'  
  
She would still help Peter with his homework and would keep up on her own studies, but anyone who knew Lily before the incident noticed the lack of spark in her eyes and her cheery attitude wasn't very cheery anymore. The first couple of months after the deaths, James and the other guys understood that that was Lily's way of mourning. However, when four months came, they got seriously worried. She still wouldn't talk unless she was spoken to, and even then she would just answer in a toneless voice. She was growing 'very' skinny, even for her and every day she would have bags under her eyes.  
  
One day, the boys decided enough was enough.  
  
"Lily." James said, concerned. They were sitting in the common room, the five of them alone. That was a rare thing nowadays. Lily usually secluded herself in her room as much as possible.  
  
"Hmm." She said, tonelessly, to show him she was listening.  
  
"You've got to snap out of this funk, Lilz." Sirius jumped in. She looked up at them and they all winced when they saw the pain in her eyes.  
  
"Why?" she asked simply. This wasn't what the guys expected.  
  
"Huh?" Peter asked dumbly.  
  
"Why?" she repeated, "Why? What's the point?"  
  
"Lily! You're slowly killing yourself like this!" James shouted, making Lily jump at the outburst. He sighed, "Sorry. But Lily, please, snap out of it. I know you're hurting and everything," he continued a little more passionately, "but this is 'not' the way your parents would want you to live your life, is it?"  
  
Lily didn't speak. Many thoughts were running through her head. The guys didn't think they were reaching her. That's when Remus remembered something.  
  
"Lily, you can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of your loss, or you can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift you have- life itself." Remus told her. She looked up at him. He thought he saw a glimmer of hope in her eyes. James, Sirius and Peter all exchanged confused glances.  
  
Tears welled up in her eyes. She said, quietly, "M-my mother said that to me. Right after James moved away. How do you know that quote?"  
  
Remus smiled, "You told me about six months ago. We were talking about our pasts." His smile faded a little as he went on, "Lily, your mother was obviously a caring, affectionate woman. She and your father wouldn't want you to sulk about for the rest of your life. Take her advice again like you took many years ago."  
  
The tears finally fell. She put her head in her hands and sobbed quietly. The four quickly gathered around her and comforted her. "I m-miss them so much." She managed to get out in between her tears. James put both his arms around her in a weird-angled hug and whispered, "I know. I know. It's alright, Lily Flower. Just let it out. It'll all be alright." The other three guys backed away and quietly left. James nor Lily noticed their absence.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Lily finally managed to sort out her issues. She would live her life to the fullest. She knew she would never fully recover from her parents' deaths, but she could try to accept it and move on.  
  
It was decided that Lily would be staying with James over the summer. She found out that James forgot to owl his parents about him reuniting with her, but his sister, Melanie, told them the first week of school. The Potter's were deeply saddened by the news of their old, dear friends being murdered by their worst enemy. They now felt it was their duty to care and love the child of their best muggle friends. Lily proclaimed that she didn't want to be a burden on them.  
  
"Nonesense." James said, firmly, with Melanie at his side. "They insisted you stay with us. And you're my best friend."  
  
"Ahem" Sirius cleared his throat loudly, hearing James' last sentence from across the common room.  
  
James rolled his eyes, "All right. You're my best 'girl' friend." He looked over at Sirius with a raised eyebrow and expression that clearly asked, 'Satisfied?'. Then he looked back at Lily.  
  
Melanie cut in, "Plus, for crying out loud, Lily, you were practically family when we lived next door to you. You could never be a burden."  
  
Lily smiled sheepishly, "Well.. If they 'insist'.."  
  
James smiled widely, "Then it's settled.. Oh," he added, realizing something, "and what about Petunia? Is she staying with us as well?" James sounded a little terrified, fearing the answer would be a 'yes'.  
  
Much to his relief, Lily shook her head, "No. I guess she's staying with my Aunt June and Uncle Tom. They wouldn't take me because they hate the fact I'm a witch." James scowled at that. Lily had told him how much her family had distanced themselves from her when she found out she was a witch. He hated that.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Finally, it was the last day of Hogwarts. The final exam results returned and to much their pleasure, Lily and James were top of their classes. Although, Lily beat James in Charms and he beat her in Transfiguration. Other than that, they tied in the others. Remus finished second, Sirius in third. Poor Peter barely passed, though, despite Lily's extra tutoring.  
  
They were currently all in the common room. Lily pulled James aside.  
  
"What'd you want to tell be, Lils?" James asked.  
  
"You've been such a good friend this year James. The best actually." She said as she kissed him on the cheek. She turned and walked back to the group, leaving James in a stupor. He just touched the spot where she had kissed him, smiling slighty.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N- hi! I am soooooooooo sorry that took so long. I had a very long English assignment that I had to get done. Well, I sincerely hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Now on with the preview.  
  
* "So I guess I'm stuck with you all for the entire summer, eh?" she said, a smile playing on her face.  
  
*"Mr. and Mrs. Potter!" she exclaimed, running towards them.  
  
*They were now in their fifth year at Hogwarts.  
  
*"Can you believe I actually made a prefect?" James asked, astonished. "Yeah. Now you'll have to stay out of trouble." Lily said, smiling smugly. "That goes both ways, Lilz"  
  
*"Oh, like, great." She said, snottily, "It's, like, the ugly, mudblood Evans." "Glad to see your vocabulary has improved over the summer, Cassandra." Lily replied, dryly.  
  
*"Ugh." He said, "You will not 'believe' what I just found out." "What is it?" "Snape 'fancies' Lily."  
  
*"Ewww!" she exclaimed, quite loudly.  
  
*"Who could have told Malfoy?" James he angrily. "It was Lily." He replied, looking astonished. 


	15. A New Year

Lily was extremely nervous about seeing the two people she considered to be like second parents to her. Right now, Lily and the four guys were sitting on the train that was taking them to their homes.  
  
"I'm so nervous." Lily said, biting her lip absently.  
  
"Don't be. Mum and dad are so excited to have you staying with us. They've made up your room for you. It was bloody annoying getting those owls asking what your favorite color was and whatnot. I don't see why they didn't just owl you or something." James shrugged.  
  
"Maybe they wanted it to be a surprise." Lily said thoughtfully, as James paled.  
  
"That probably was the reason. Oh crap!" James exclaimed. Lily just laughed.  
  
"Don't worry James. I'll act surprised. They won't even know you told." She said. He relaxed. "But I am going to miss you three." She said, turning her attention to Sirius, Remus and Peter. "Are you going to be visiting us or anything during the summer?"  
  
Then she saw menacing smiles form on their lips. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked, curiously.  
  
"Do you not remember what we told you when we first met you?" Remus asked.  
  
"No. What did you tell me?"  
  
"We all live on the same street, Lilz. We'll be seeing each other everyday." Sirius exclaimed.  
  
Lily feigned dread. "So I guess I'm stuck with you all for the entire summer, eh?" she said, a smile playing on her face.  
  
The boys just smiled smugly. "That's right my little Lily Billy. For the ENTIRE summer." Sirius said, flinging an arm around her summer while she just laughed and shook her head.  
  
"Oh woe is me." She said, sarcastically.  
  
Just then, the compartment door opened and Melanie entered. "Hello people.. And Sirius." She added, earning a 'humph' from Sirius and laughs from the others.  
  
"Well put, Melly." Lily said, giving Sirius a smile to show she was joking.  
  
"Well, I've just talked to one of the prefects and she said we should be there in about 5 minutes. Better get your stuff together, children." She pinched James' cheek, causing him to scowl. She waved and left the compartment.  
  
Sure enough, five minutes later, they pulled into the train station. Lily glanced out the window, as though looking for someone. Really, for a few seconds, she was looking out the window for her parents. Then she remembered and slumped back in her seat, trying to not cry. James noticed all this.  
  
"Hey Lilz." He said softly, taking a seat next to her. She looked over at him and gave a small smile.  
  
"Hey James. Looks like we're here." She said quietly.  
  
"Lily, I know you're still sad about your parents. That's something you will never fully heal over. But just remember, you're not alone. I'm here for you. So are Sirius, Remus and Peter. Melanie's always ready to lend an ear if you feel like talking to someone other than a boy. My parents will be there for you to. They love you just like a daughter. Just remember, you're not alone." He repeated. She looked at him in the eyes. He almost gasped at how pretty her eyes were. The tears in them just made them sparkle more. She smiled fully at him now. Without a word, she threw her arms around him. He just hugged her back.  
  
"Thanks James." She mumbled then said, "We'd better get going. The other three are already off the train. And I'm sure your parents are waiting."  
  
"Yeah." He replied, "Let's go."  
  
When they got off the train, they spotted Remus talking to an older woman and man. Most likely his parents. Sirius wasn't too far off, already getting scolded by an older woman that was telling him to not but bugs in other people's hair. Lily almost burst out laughing when she heard that. Peter was another few feet away, hugging and older man and woman.  
  
"Guess we'll see them later on, then." James said. Lily nodded and the two of them looked around for James' parents. It was so crowded; they could barely see anything through the mill of people. They decided to split up and search.  
  
Another few minutes or so, Lily heard someone exclaim a few feet away from her, "Lily, is that you!?" she spun around quickly at the mention of her name. There they were, a few feet away from her with James and Melanie at their side.  
  
"Mr. and Mrs. Potter!" she exclaimed, running towards them. She stopped when she reached them, starting to feel a little shy. It went by unnoticed as Mrs. Potter scooped her up in a big hug.  
  
"Oh my, sweetie. Lat time we seen you, you were still in your 'mud pie' and 'I'm a fairy princess' stage." She exclaimed as she examined her. "Now look at you. My goodness! You look gorgeous." It was true. She was wearing white capris and a white and jade green halter top with white flip flops. Her completely straight hair was back in a half pony tail with a few loose hairs down framing her face.  
  
She blushed as Mrs. Potter went on and on about how much Lily grew and now looked much more mature. James, Melanie, and Mr. Potter noticed this.  
  
"Mum! Quit it, you're embarrassing her." Melanie said.  
  
"Oh, nonsense." Mrs. Potter said nonchalantly. While she said this, Mr. Potter saved Lily by engulfing her in a big bear hug.  
  
"How are you doing, Lily? We're very sorry to hear about your parents." He said sympathetically.  
  
"Yes. We were devastated to hear about them. They were very good people. One of the few muggle couples we've met. Lovely people, they were." Mrs. Potter said, tears coming to her eyes as she joined back into the conversation.  
  
Lily swallowed hard and fought to keep on a brave face. "I'm alright. I still miss them, but I realize, now, that I'm not alone. I have you two, Mr. and Mrs. Potter, and I have James and Melanie and my other friends."  
  
"Please dear, call us Harry and Anastasia. You don't have to be so formal." She interrupted.  
  
Lily smiled, gratefully. "Thank you so much for taking me in. I really hope I'm not being to much of a burden on you."  
  
James sighed exasperatedly. "Lily, I already told you-,"  
  
"Nonsense, Lily. You are like part of the family now. You are most certainly 'not' a burden to us. So don't give it another thought. Come on, all. We should probably get on home. I do believe we have a surprise for Lily." Harry said, his eyes twinkling merrily much like James' does when he's excited.  
  
Lily noticed James pale slightly. As their chauffeur and Mr. Potter managed to get all the trunks into the back of the Potter limousine, Lily walked over to James.  
  
"Don't worry. I'll act very surprised." She whispered so only he could hear.  
  
He turned to look at her and smiled gratefully. The ride to the Potter's estate wasn't very exciting. They mostly chatted and got caught up in what had been happening since they had last seen Lily.  
  
When the limousine drove up to the estate, James was awaiting the surprised reaction of Lily. He didn't tell her how big his house was, and since every one of his friends he brought over made a big deal about it, he assumed Lily would also. But, he was the one that was surprised by her reaction. She just got out of the limo and walked up the large staircase with his parents, barely giving the mansion a second thought.  
  
Lily soon found out her big surprise was just as James mentioned earlier. It was a good thing she was a good actor. Her room was quite large, though it was about the same size as Lily's old one. This was painted a lavender color and had white trimmings. The bed was a queen size and the quilt on top of it was the same texture and the same shade of white as the lace curtains hiding her windows. Through the lace curtains, Lily could see that two of the large windows were really French doors leading to two different balconies. Lily expressed her gratitude greatly and sincerely. She had already started to feel like she belonged.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Living in the same house as your best friend and having your three other friends living on the same street of Godric's Hollows turned out to be the best time. Everyday, the five would either be found the lake behind James' house or roaming around the forest located in Sirius' backyard. Lily was feeling better and better everyday.  
  
One of the best days of the summer was her birthday. She was sleeping soundly in her bed. When she had decided to wake up, she practically screamed when James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were sitting all around her on the big bed. She let out a surprised gasp, gaining the boys' attention.  
  
"What are you four doing in here?" She asked, wide-eyed.  
  
They grinned and all shouted at once, "Happy Birthday, Lilz!"  
  
Her eyes widen even more and she broke out into a big smile. "Oh, yeah." She said. Then she let out an excited shriek and flung the covers of her, then sat up. The boys wasted no time to pull out their gifts. Lily was one of those people that took their time and carefully opened each package, trying not to ruin the wrapping paper. It appeared that the boys took a little more time and effort into her gift than she had expected.  
  
Peter's gift was wrapped in shiny, glittery emerald paper. Inside the paper was a beautiful, elegant-looking hardcover novel. 'Alice In Wonderland' was one of her favorite books. She was a little surprised that Peter would know that; she didn't think she told the boys, except for James, but that was different because she knew James longer, what her favorite novel was. She looked up, curiously and caught James' eye. A small smile appeared on his face, telling her he had helped Peter pick it out. She smiled fondly at him. She leaned closer to Peter and gave him a hug, causing him to squeak nervously. Then she went to the next present.  
  
Sirius' present was wrapped in, she smirked at this, moving broomsticks that were playing Quidditch. She opened it carefully. A beautiful picture frame held a picture of a captured moment showing the five of them hanging out in the common room, no doubt at the late hours of the night when the rest of the Gryffindors went to bed. They were all seated in various places, surrounding the fire. Peter was on the floor, playing a game of exploding snaps. Remus was sitting on a chair near the couch, reading a book, occasionally glancing around the room, different expressions on his face as he looked at different places. Whenever Peter's eyebrows were cinched off when the game exploded, he would shake his head, amused and a small smile playing on his lips. Then, on the couch, sat Lily, James, and Sirius, with Lily in the middle of them. Lily was looking over her homework. James, who sat on her right, tapped her shoulder to get her attention, holding a piece of parchment, and appeared to be asking her a question about it. While her attention was all on James, Sirius, who sat on Lily's left peaked over her shoulder and copied down her answers, going unnoticed by anyone else other than Remus, who shook his head.  
  
That wasn't all of the present, though. Sirius had also gotten her a gold locket. She opened it and inside held two pictures. On one side, it showed her and James as six years olds. One the other side, there was a picture of the five of them all smiling at the camera outside of Hogwarts. Lily then hugged Sirius tightly, muttering her thanks.  
  
Her next present was Remus'. When she opened the white lily wrapping paper, she saw another book. This one was a book on quotes. She looking up at Remus, both of them sharing a knowing smile. He mouthed 'open it' to her. She opened it to a bookmarked page and her heart gave a jolt. Remus had highlighted some quotes that her mother had used to say. She then gave him a watery smile and hugged him tightly, unable to thank him for fear of bursting into tears.  
  
Her last present was from James. The wrapping paper was red and gold stripes. She opened it carefully, like the others. This time, though, unlike the others, she gasped when she opened it. Tears threatened to fall more so when she saw it. It was a photo album and the front cover was a picture of Lily's parents smiling brightly at the camera. Lily trailed her fingers over the picture softly, then opened the book. As Lily leafed through it, the tears she was trying so desperately to stop came. Various pictures of her life with her family, her friends, moments she couldn't recall happening, were in there. It was the best birthday present she had ever gotten. She leaped up out of her covers and hugged James so tightly he was about ready to ask for air. She sobbed into his shirt and he held her back just as tightly. "Thank you James." She whispered. He just smiled and held her until she let go and suggested they all go downstairs while she gets dressed then they could all get some breakfast. They spent the entire day down by the lake close to James' backyard. Life was perfect for Lily.  
  
~*~Fifth Year~*~  
  
They were now in their fifth year at Hogwarts. Well, sort of. They still had a week until summer vacation ended and they made sure to enjoy every minute of it.  
  
"Jamsie!" Lily shouted from the parlor. James raced down the stairs from his bedroom. When he entered the room, Lily smirked at his appearance. He walked over to where she was sitting on the sofa and took a seat next to her.  
  
"Love the boxers, Potter." She leaned closer to him and it appeared she was trying to look serious, but failing miserably, "very stylin'." She couldn't take it anymore, she burst out laughing. He was wearing white boxers with red hearts on them. With it being all he was wearing, any other girl would drop over dead at the sight of the cutest guy at Hogwarts dressed like that. But, Lily wasn't like the other girls there. She was used to it by now and it didn't really affect her. Well, actually it 'did' affect her a little. Over the years, she had developed a little crush on James, but she never admitted it to anyone. She thought it would just go away. But it didn't, if anything it only grown stronger. And who could blame her; she and the rest of the girls at school couldn't help but have even the tinniest crush on him. He had the same messy hair, with warm chocolate eyes framed by wired-rimmed glasses. Some things never changed, though he was more in shape than he was before. Being Quidditch seeker and captain for the Gryffindor team will do that to you, though. Over the years, the guys' maturity level pretty much remained the same, along with their personalities. Remus and Sirius had grown to be even hotter than they were before, though Lily would never EVER think of them that way. Sirius had grown into quite the ladies man. He never kept a girlfriend for more than a week and usually let them down insensitively. Remus was a little calmer with that kind of thing. He barely dated and when he did, they usually never lasted but he let them down gently. James was a little in between. He'd date a lot and usually break it off within a week, but he would do it gently. Peter wasn't very popular, but he was still friends with James and the gang. They got so used to him and they felt sorry for him, so they were still close to them. The three, not Peter, were the most sought after guys at the school by the entire female population, and the most hated guys at the school by the male population. Being Lily Evans closest friends, and being guys no less, helped them in that category. Lily was probably the most sought after girl in the entire school. She was probably the prettiest one as well. Her shiny auburn hair reached her mid-back and was wavy. She had a slim, but curvy figure that most of the female population would have loved to hate her for, but they couldn't. (explanation later.) She never dated. There were two reasons behind this. One was she never felt the need to date. No one at her school interested her and she was too busy studying and maintaining her good grades to worry about a boyfriend. The other reason was that even if she DID want to date, it was an unlikely chance that any guy would get through James, Sirius, or Remus. They were still extremely protective of her. Anytime a guy would get up enough courage to ask her out, one of them or all of them would glare or do something to him that would cut his courage level down to none.  
  
At the end of fourth year, Sirius came up with an idea. Since the entire school knew them as the pranksters, they should actually come up with a name to call themselves. So, being the typical Sirius he is, he came up with the Marauders. It was originally meant for just the guys so Lily wouldn't have to repeat their names all the time. She could just call them the Marauders. But, they decided she was just as part of the group as the rest, so she was called a Marauder as well. It was really like a hierarchy. James was like the king, or the unofficial leader. Lily was like their queen. If James wasn't around, which was pretty much never, she would be placed in charge of pulling pranks. It worked pretty well since no one in the entire school would even think that sweet innocent Lily Evans would pull pranks. She wouldn't hurt a fly, they thought. In all honesty... they were right. Usually she just came up with the pranks, with the help of Remus. James and Sirius were the ones that actually pulled them off and Peter mostly did nothing but try to talk them out of it. (the little wuss).  
  
A lot of people wondered were curious as to how Lily still hung out with the guys. She was so different than them. She was so kind and sweet to anyone. She was the school sweetheart. Even the girls that were jealous of her and tried to despise her couldn't help but love her. She was practically perfect. She would stick up for anyone that was being put down and she would tutor anyone at even the wee hours of the night, even if it meant sacrificing her own homework. James and Sirius on the other hand, were loud and didn't mind at all to be the center of attention. In fact, they craved it. They waited till the last moment to get their homework done and usually had to have help from either Lily or Remus to finish it on time. Remus was still the kindest guy of the group. Peter was still the wimp of the group, though if anyone dared to call him that, they'd have to face the wrath of the Marauders.  
  
To make an already long story a little shorter, things were basically still the same.  
  
James rolled his eyes and mumbled something incoherent that only made Lily laugh harder. James was now trying his hardest to scowl at her, but he couldn't do it. He burst out laughing along with her. There was just something about her laugh. It was the kind that could get the gloomiest person to crack a smile. When they finished laughing, James said, "So, what's up my little Flower?"  
  
He noticed for the first time that she was holding two letters in her hand. One was already opened. "Oooh. We got our Hogwarts letters!" he exclaimed.  
  
"Yep. And that's not all I got." She said. He look back at her.  
  
"What else did you get?" he raised an eyebrow at her. He knew Lily very well, and he knew that she had something big she wanted to say. She looked as though she would burst at any moment.  
  
She smiled widely, making James' heart skip a beat for some reason. "I'm a PREFECT!" she exclaimed. He widened his eyes, although he wasn't really surprised. Everyone pretty much knew that Lily would be made a prefect this year. She was the top of all her classes except for Transfig, which James was still in the lead for with her at a close second. "I can't believe it!"  
  
"I can. Lilz, you've got the highest scores in the entire Gryffindor population." James said, a little fondly and a little exasperated at the same time.  
  
"No I don't. Really, I'm not even that good at my schoolwork." Lily mumbled. James inwardly seethed. It was obvious that Petunia had done a great job of making sure Lily had no confidence whatsoever. James and the guys had made her gain most of it, but there were times when she would feel self-conscious about something she did. James really hated Petunia and the rest of Lily's family that had abandoned her when they found out about her wizards blood.  
  
He put an arm around her shoulder and said in an assuring voice, "Lily, you 'are' the best. How many times do we have to tell you that? You're excellent at your schoolwork. You'll probably even get Head Girl." Lily smiled a little at this and instantly perked up.  
  
"Oh yeah, guess who's the Gryffindor boy prefect." She said.  
  
James thought about it and said, "Frank Longbottom?"  
  
Lily said, looking surprised, "actually no. Surprising, huh?"  
  
"Yeah, I thought for sure he would be it again this year. But anyway, who?"  
  
She didn't answer him directly. She just said, "Here." And handed him his letter.  
  
When he opened it, his face dropped in absolute shock. "Me?! I'm a prefect. I don't believe it."  
  
"Well, aside from the fact that you pull pranks 24/7, you are the smartest guy at Hogwarts." Lily said. They spent the rest of the day with Sirius, Remus (Peter was out of town) playing Quidditch in the Potter's stadium. That was another reason that the four were so popular. They were all on the Quidditch team. With, as stated before, James as the seeker and captain, and Remus and Sirius as the teams beaters, and surprisingly, with Lily as one of the catchers, they were unstoppable. Peter wasn't on the team, but he was the commentator. The other two chasers were a sixth year named Eric Blane and a seventh year named Molly Shultz. The keeper was a sixth year also, named Derek Greene.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Before they knew it, October 1st came and the five of them were all seated in a compartment waiting to arrive at Hogwarts.  
  
"Can you believe I actually made a prefect?" James asked, astonished.  
  
"Yeah. Now you'll have to stay out of trouble." Lily said, smiling smugly.  
  
"That goes both ways, Lilz" Sirius said, causing the others to snort with laughter and Lily to grin sheepishly.  
  
"I suppose it would be better if I lay off some of the pranks this year. Just to set a good example for the first years." She said thoughtfully.  
  
"Nonsense, Flower. What 'would' we do without you?" Sirius replied, ruffling her hair affectionately. She squealed in protest and took out her wand, putting the tickling charm on him.  
  
"Li-Lily! T-take (laughs) this s-spell off of m-me!" Sirius managed to get out. Lily pretended to think real hard.  
  
"Hmm. Well, I suppose I 'could'." She grinned evilly, then put on a confused act, "Though I 'do' have to wonder. What 'would' be in it for me, Siri-poo?"  
  
"I-I'll give you...20 galleons!" he weezed.  
  
She crinkled her nose, "Now, how tacky do you think I am? Honestly! Do I look like Cassandra to you?"  
  
"Good point. I-I'll do your homework for a MONTH!" he laughed, turning desperate.  
  
Lily raised an eyebrow, as did Remus and James, who had been enjoying this little display in front of them. "Sirius, Lily pretty much does 'your' homework. Plus I don't think she wants to give up her position as the smartest student in our year." Remus chuckled.  
  
"Another good point. (laughs) I-I've GOT IT! 'I'll' do my 'own' homework for a month." Sirius replied.  
  
Lily took the Charm off him. "Deal. I do hope you were serious," he was about to say something REALLy corny (I think you know what it is), but Lily kept talking, "'and' if you were thinking of breaking our agreement, don't think I won't do this again." She tried to look dangerous, but failed miserably. She burst out laughing, causing the others to join in.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
After the sorting and the feast was over and done with, after Lily and James escorted the new first years to the Gryffindor tower, Lily finally made her way to her dormitory. When she opened the door, she was awarded with the same unpleasant situation she had been putting up with ever since first year. Cassandra was sitting on her bed, painting her toenails with her two little minions. There's really nothing too different about them. They just got stupider and ditzyer over the years.  
  
"Oh, like, great." She said, snottily, "It's, like, the ugly, mudblood Evans."  
  
"Glad to see your vocabulary has improved over the summer, Cassandra." Lily replied, dryly. Lily walked her way over to her bed, changed into her pajamas and closed her curtains, completely ignoring the evil looks sent her way.  
  
"That Lily Evans thinks she's, like, so popular and pretty." Cassandra said quietly, unnoticed by Lily, who had fallen asleep instantly. "Just because she, like, hangs out with the absolutely, unbelievable 'hot' James Potter and his friends, she thinks she, like, owns the entire school."  
  
"But there's nothing, like, we can, like, do about it, Cass." Stacy said, her voice squeaking in an annoyingly high pitch.  
  
"Yeah, like, she's loved by, like, 'everyone, in this school. Even, like, the girls that are jealous of her can't help but love her." Kelly said in the same high pitch voice.  
  
"Well, I don't like her." Cassandra said, haughtily, "She'll, like, get what she deserves. Just in good time."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
The next few weeks of school went by pretty much normally. The five, with the exception of Remus, who said he'd be down later, were all in the Great Hall, eating breakfast.  
  
"Lilyyyyy! You've got to stop this obsession with trying to be the 'good little prefect'. We haven't pulled a decent prank in FIVE days." Sirius whined. She laughed, still unfazed by what he was saying. A book of hers was propped up against the pumpkin juice jug. "James. Tell her to stop." That caused Lily to laugh harder and James to snap out of his daydream. Lately, James couldn't respond correctly when he was around Lily. He couldn't help it. She was so beautiful. Though, he would never admit it to anyone. He started having feelings for Lily when he first saw her again and when she gave him that kiss towards the end of first year. Sure, he had been attracted to her then, but now, he was starting to think it was something more. He could never tell anyone. She would never like him anymore as a friend.  
  
"Where have you been all morning? La-la Land?" Sirius asked, noticing his friend's weird behavior.  
  
"No, I'm just tired." James said, a little uneasy. He hated to lie to his friends, but he couldn't very well tell them the truth.  
  
"Hi, Jamsie!" said a gaggle of airheads at the Hufflepuff table. They were so in love with him that they even started their own James Potter fan club. James just groaned and rolled his eyes, not answering them. Lily smirked, amused by all this.  
  
"Oh, Siri-wiri! Come sit with us!" said another group of girls from across the hall. Sirius did the same as James. Rolled his eyes and groaned.  
  
"Oh come on guys. They're your admirers. Best not keep them waiting." Lily giggled.  
  
The two just tried to glare at her in mock anger. That just caused Lily to laugh harder, making several of the males in the hall turn her way lovingly. Of course, James and Sirius noticed this while Peter just ate his pancakes greedily. James and Sirius shot glares to any of the boys still looking. Lily didn't' notice because she went back to her textbooks, fazing out the world around her. That was when Remus walked up to the table.  
  
"Hi, Remus" Lily mumbled, not really paying attention to the guys in front of her.  
  
*"Ugh." He said, "You will not 'believe' what I just found out."  
  
"What is it?" James asked, looking over at his friend. Sirius and Peter turned to look at him, curiously. Lily was too absorbed in her book to notice.  
  
"Snape 'fancies' Lily." Remus replies, shuddering. Lily still didn't hear what they were talking about.  
  
"WHAT!? SNAPE 'FANCIES' LILY!?" James exclaimed. 'That' got Lily's attention.  
  
*"Ewww!" she exclaimed, quite loudly. The entire Great Hall turned from what they were doing and looked over curiously to see what all the commotion was about. What they saw was four of the most popular guys laughing their heads off and the most popular girl in school looking pale with her eyes wide open looking terribly grossed out.  
  
"Guys, it's 'not' funny." She protested. "It's 'creepy'." She turned to James for support, "Come on James. Even you have to admit it's a little..." she shuddered, "wrong. I mean, he's hated me for as long as he's hated you." Then her attitude turned to one of a small child as they just kept laughing, "It's not fair!" she exclaimed, stomping her foot childishly, "Why couldn't he have liked 'you'?" she asked James.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Two weeks later, things had died down yet again. Though, the Marauders and Lily had managed to pull off the animagi potion. Now they were all animagi, except for Lily who insisted she just help with the potion. James was a stag, Sirius a dog, and Peter a rat. It was the night after the full moon and James was sitting in the common room alone. Sirius had gone down to the kitchens to get some food, Peter was who knows where, and Lily was, surprise surprise, in the library. Remus was still in the hospital wing resting. James had just finished his potions homework when Sirius stalked into the common room, looking quite furious.  
  
"Malfoy knows." He said simply. James' eyebrows furrowed.  
  
"Knows what?"  
  
"He knows about Remus. He came up to me as I was walking to the kitchens. Who knows who he could tell!" Sirius almost yelled. Then he calmed down a little, saying in a voice that showed his surprise "And that's not all. Guess who told him."  
  
"Who could have told Malfoy?" James he angrily, not hearing the last thing Sirius said.  
  
"It was Lily." He replied, looking astonished. James looked up sharply.  
  
"Lily told Malfoy!? Why would she do that? That's not at all like her." James said, sounding confused.  
  
"I guess Lily wasn't the person we thought she was." Sirius said, sounding almost regretful.  
  
James then got angry. "That's it. She can be sure that we're not going to have anything to do with her anymore. I mean, how could she sell Remus out like that?"  
  
Sirius looked enraged as well. "I guess we'll just have to find out when she gets back from the library."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N- phew. That's the end of that chapter. So how'd you like it? I am 'beat'. I still have one more day of finals, but then I'm done with school for the year. Yippie! Well, thank you to everyone to reviewed and here's the preview of the next chapter.  
  
*"Hey guys! What's wrong?" she asked, seeing the angry looks on their  
faces.  
  
*"G-guys. I swear. I didn't tell any-," "save it. We know you told so don't lie"  
  
*"she deserved it." James replied angrily to Sirius.  
  
*"Aw. I guess you're not so popular anymore, huh Evans." Cassandra  
said snottily, hanging on the arm of James, who looked away from Lily,  
ignoring her.  
* "What, are you gonna cry Evans?" he said, continuing to taunt her  
with the rest of the crowd.  
  
* "The students seem to have acted differently around Miss Evans  
lately, haven't they Professor?" Dumbledore said, looking baffled.  
  
* "James? Have you noticed how...unhealthy Lily has been looking  
recently."  
  
* Lily wasn't looking forward to the Qudditch game tomorrow morning. 


	16. Your Own Personal Hell

When Lily reached the portrait of the fat lady she said the password and dragged herself in. She was completely exhausted and all she wanted to do was climb in her bed. It sounded so tempting after all that homework and studying she had just accomplished. As she walked into the room, she saw James and Sirius at the couch. Remus was still at the hospital wing, probably for a few more days. Peter was most likely asleep since it was so late. She decided to say a quick hello and goodbye to the two on the couch before she dragged herself up to her dormitory.  
  
"Hey guys! What's wrong?" she asked, seeing the angry looks on their faces.  
  
They both turned and glared at her. She widened her eyes in surprise. "It must be pretty bad if you're even too mad to talk." She said.  
  
"How dare you Lily." James said, looking at her with a disgusted look on his face. "How dare you do that to Remus."  
  
"What are you talking about? Do 'what' to Remus?" She asked.  
  
"Don't pretend you don't know what we're talking about. We know it was you who told Malfoy about Remus' condition." Sirius growled at her.  
  
"What?" she asked, astonished.  
  
"You heard us." James answered coldly.  
  
"G-guys. I swear. I didn't tell any-,"  
  
"Save it. We know you told so don't lie" James said.  
  
"Why would I tell Malfoy about Remus?" she tried to reason.  
  
"Lily! Who knows what goes on in your mind? Maybe you secretly fancy him. Or maybe you just want attention. The fact of the matter is, you told him, and now we will never trust you again." Sirius said angrily.  
  
Tears were now threatening to fall down her face as her skin drained of color out of shock. Her best friends. The people she trusted most in this world, didn't trust her enough to know she was telling the truth. "But I didn't-," she tried again, but was cut off again by James.  
  
"Lily, we never want to talk to you again. You are no longer a fellow Marauder... or friend. Stay away from us. When we see each other in the halls, act like you don't even know us and we'll do the same with you... not like it will make much of a difference anyway. I mean, we never really did know you at all, now did we?" James gave her one final glare, along with Sirius, before they both made their way to their dormitory, leaving Lily to digest everything that had just happened.  
  
Up in the boys dormitory, James was still fuming. He couldn't believe Lily would do something like that. 'Well I guess you can never trust some people.' He thought to himself. He still felt a little bit of guilt, though, seeing the pain and sorrow in her eyes when they confronted her about it. 'But, she always was good at acting and deceiving people. We used to do that all the time to get ourselves out of trouble.'  
  
"James, do you think we went a little too far?" Sirius asked, unsure. As mad as he was at Lily, he still felt a pang of remorse at the end of their friendship.  
  
"She deserved it." James replied angrily to Sirius.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Two days later, after Lily showered and dressed, she walked down the steps into the common room. She slept a little later than usual so the other girls in her dorm were gone before she even awoke. She learned that Malfoy had been given strict orders not to tell anyone at all about Remus' condition. That didn't give her too much relief, though. She was now friendless and alone, sort of. Remus still hadn't returned from the hospital wing, though when he did, she was sure that he would be just as mad as the other two. Peter had always followed James and Sirius around, so when they dumped her, he did as well, even though he didn't know why they did it. The rest of the school was shocked when they realized Lily was no longer friends with the Marauders. When the guys abandoned her, so did most of her fan club and admirers. It seemed like the whole school hated her now.  
  
When she walked into the common room, she was met with a shock. Cassandra and her two friends were talking to James, Sirius, and Peter by the fireplace. It looked as though they were flirting. Cassandra had just linked arms with James and kissed him, and Stacy and Kelly did the same with Sirius and Peter. When they sensed someone else in the room, the six of them turned around.  
  
"Aw. I guess you're not so popular anymore, huh Evans." Cassandra said snottily, hanging on the arm of James, who looked away from Lily, ignoring her. Stacy and Kelly added their own, 'like yeah' and 'totally'. Sirius and Peter looked away as well. Lily had tears in her eyes as Cassandra made fun of her. Though, what hurt the most was that the guys weren't even defending her. In fact, she had a suspicion that they were now going out with the three airheads to get back at her. And it was really working. Lily started to breath in ragged gasps as she tried to fight back the tears. She practically ran out the portrait hole so they wouldn't see her cry.  
  
As she made her way to the Great Hall, shoulders hunched as though she were carrying the weight of the world on them, she received many glares and got called 'Mudblood' quite a few times. Her eyes were looking to the ground when she saw many pairs of feet in front of her. She gazed up, slowly, and saw a large group of students surrounding her, scowling. The leader of the group appeared to be Fletcher McDermott. He was a sixth year Hufflepuff.  
  
"Well, well, well. If it isn't Hogwarts own little Mudblood slut. Why don't you just leave here and do everyone else a favor?" he said, speaking with such hate that Lily was astonished that a person could go from having a major crush to despising the ground you walk on, all in a matter of one day. This guy had personally formed his own 'Lily Evans' fan club and now he was practically threatening her to leave. Lily looked at the faces in the group. All but a few she had helped out with their homework, or even comforted them in a time of need. This was not how people should be acting after how much she had done and sacrificed for them.  
  
"Why are you people doing this?" she whispered.  
  
McDermott leaned forward and said in a mocking voice, "Why not? After all, it's not like we're hurting your feelings. Scum like you don't have feelings." Someone from the crowd started to chant, "Mudblood." Pretty soon, everyone there started to chant. McDermott saw that she was about to cry.  
  
"What, are you gonna cry Evans?" he said, continuing to taunt her with the rest of the crowd. Lily couldn't take it anymore. She ran back to her dormitory and locked herself in there for the rest of the day. She just kept crying, no matter how hard she tried to stop. She cried herself sick.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
By the next week, Friday, Remus had returned and was noticing weird things. Lily hadn't been hanging around them at all. In fact, he barely ever saw her outside of class and occasionally in the Great Hall. When he did see her, she wouldn't go near him or the other three. She seemed a lot more skinny and pale than before. When she was in the Great Hall, she wouldn't eat. She would just stare into space or loose herself in a textbook. Whenever he would giver her a smile in the halls or in class, she would widen her eyes and pale.  
  
The first time Remus noticed Lily's strange behavior, Remus asked James and Sirius about it. They denied anything out of the ordinary. They didn't want to tell Remus about Malfoy knowing and that Lily was the one that told him. It would just add more to what Remus was worrying about. So they just said that she had decided to become more withdrawn and focus all her attention to her schoolwork. Remus still seemed a little suspicious, but didn't press the matter further. Though, it did hurt just a little to know that Lily didn't want to spend any time 'at all' with her friends.  
  
Now Remus was starting to get a little more worried about how Lily was acting. He and the rest of the Marauders were in the Great Hall for lunch and Lily had just dragged herself in, looking deeply troubled, depressed, and weak and tired. As she walked by them, Remus looked up and smiled at her while the others ignored her. She, once again, paled and hurried off to the other end of the table, sitting the nearest she could to the teachers table.  
  
"James? Have you noticed how...unhealthy Lily has been looking recently." He asked. James, who was sitting across from Remus, looked up, avoiding Remus' eyes. Remus saw Sirius shift in his seat uneasily. Peter just looked at James, waiting for an answer as well.  
  
"Er... no, not really. She usually looks like that when she's been studying a lot without taking a break." He stammered.  
  
"True, but that's not all that's been weird around here." Remus said thoughtfully, "the other day in one of the halls, I heard Lily being harassed by a bunch of Ravenclaws. She ran away from them before I could help. But what really confuses me is that Lily used to be so popular with everyone, especially the Ravenclaws. Why would they suddenly just hate her like that?"  
  
James really couldn't answer that because he himself didn't know. After all, the rest of the school didn't know what Lily had done. All they knew was that the marauders and Lily had broken off their friendships with each other. That shouldn't have affected them in this way. It would have been more common that all the male population would be thrilled that Lily was finally free so they could date her.  
  
"-and the other weird thing is that... you three are dating the airhead patrol. What is up with 'that'?" Remus continued.  
  
"Uh, we just thought we'd... you know, give them a chance. They're pretty enough and everything. Plus, we're not really all that close with Lily any more, so why not date them." Sirius said quickly, giving Remus more reason to be suspicious. But, once again, Remus dropped the subject, but still occasionally glanced at Lily, concerned for his friend.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Professor McGonagall looked over at Headmaster Dumbledore. He had a thoughtful look on his face for some reason.  
  
"Penny for your thoughts, Albus." She said.  
  
"The students seem to have acted differently around Miss Evans lately, haven't they Professor?" Dumbledore said, looking baffled. McGonagall looked at the Gryffindor table were Lily was sitting engrossed in her book. She noticed almost everyone in the Great Hall was glaring at her with the most disgusted look they could muster. She did her best to ignore them. What surprised her the most, though, was that James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus seemed to do nothing about it. That was very peculiar in itself  
  
"Indeed, Professor." McGonagall answered. "What do you suppose is the trouble?"  
  
Dumbledore shook his head, "I daresay I don't know. We'll just have to keep a lookout."  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
As Lily walked out of her last class of the day, someone tripped her on purpose and she lost all her papers she was holding. No one even bothered to help her pick them up. If there was one thing for sure, it was this.  
  
Lily wasn't looking forward to the Qudditch game tomorrow morning. Especially since she was on it, along with Sirius, James, and Remus.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N- How'd ya like it? I know it's really sad. I had a real hard time writing this. Making the marauders be mean to Lily, but it's all part of the plot. Please don't hate me for doing this because the next few chapters are going to be a little sad. Well, anyway, please review. They really do a lot to motivate me.  
  
* The minute she stood up and walked over, the black figure put  
something in her drink.  
  
* Lily noticed someone putting something in James' drink.  
  
* The other two chasers weren't passing her the ball at all.  
  
* Her eyes widened in shock. "JAMES, LOOK OUT!"  
  
*Everyone held their breath as she continued to fall. James tried  
racing his broom down, but it was too late.  
  
* "Now I want to know what was really going on with you two and Lily!"  
Remus shouted, starting to get real angry. 


	17. The Qudditch Match

The next morning, Lily was silently picking at her food. She knew she should eat; after all, she had to play her best at the Quidditch game. It was Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw and this year the Ravenclaws had a pretty good team. Lily looked up from her plate of bacon and eggs and glanced around the Great Hall. She sighed sadly as she saw kids laughing and joking around with their friends. Just a few weeks ago she was one of them; joking and laughing with the Marauders. The Marauders. Lily looked over at them. They were, not surprisingly, sitting with Cassandra and her two lackeys. She felt a jolt in her heart. Just seeing those three girls, the ones who had personally taken it upon themselves to make Lily's life miserable, sitting with her former friends, it just hurt her so much. Lily was just staring at them until Remus felt as though someone was watching them and looked up and met her eyes. Lily quickly looked down at her plate. It looked as though Remus was about to get up and say something to her; but she was saved by Dumbledore motioning her to come up to the teachers table so he could tell her something. All this was happening and not a single soul saw a black figure sneaking around near the Gryffindor table.  
  
The minute Lily stood up and walked over to the teachers table, the black figure put something in her drink. Nobody noticed this because, well, nobody really paid attention to Lily at the Great Hall very often anymore.  
  
"You wanted to tell me something, Headmaster?" Lily asked when she reached him.  
  
"Yes, Miss Evans. I just wanted to inform you that there will be a prefects meeting tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. Could you please tell Mr. Potter this as well?" he replied. He noticed her face pale slightly, but she nodded anyway. As she was about to walk back to her seat, Dumbledore called out to her, "Miss Evans?" she turned and looked at him questionably, "Is everything alright? You've seemed a little distant lately." He could see she was debating silently to herself.  
  
Finally she answered, "No, there's nothing wrong. I've... I've just been studying a lot lately."  
  
Dumbledore studied her a moment as she fidgeted uncomfortable. Finally, he decided she'll tell him when she's ready so he said, "Ok. Don't work yourself to hard. And good luck on the Qudditch match today." She smiled, looking relieved, and nodded to him before returning to her seat.  
  
When she sat down, she realized how dry her throat felt. She picked up her goblet of pumpkin juice and drained the entire thing in one gulp. She didn't notice the dark figure chuckle lightly to itself and walk unnoticeably closer to James. James and his friends were busy laughing at a joke and Cassandra and her two friends were discussing nail polishes. They didn't notice the black figure some up close to James' left side (he was at the end of his group so there was no one sitting on his left). But Lily noticed. And Lily also noticed someone putting something in James' drink. She widened her eyes, shot up out of her seat, and walked quickly over to him. He was reaching for his goblet, bringing it closer and closer to his lips.  
  
"James!" Lily almost shouted. It startled the group and James put his drink down. Cassandra, Stacie and Kelly all glared at her. Sirius was looking down, not looking at her. Remus turned to look at her and smiled friendly. Peter was looking around, confused as always. James turned to face her, looking half mad, half curious. Lily didn't know for sure, but she thought she saw a bit of regret and guilt in his eyes. That look was quickly replaced by anger.  
  
"What?" he replied coldly. Lily gulped and gathered up her courage. She sat down on his left and said in a shaky voice, "W-we've got a prefects meeting tomorrow morning at 10 a.m." as she was saying this, she was sneakily grabbing James' cup and holding it out of sight. No one saw her do this. James nodded curtly and turned back to his friends, ignoring her again. Lily sighed in half relief and half sorrow. She walked back to her seat and finished eating. Again, no one saw the black figure as it stepped out of the Great Hall, and no one saw it silently cursing himself for not making sure Potter drank form his goblet.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
A half hour later, everyone was making their way to the Quidditch pitch in high spirits. Everyone, but Lily. She was in the locker room with the rest of her teammates, all of which were ignoring her. James was giving them one of his pep talks and was writing on a board that looked like the pitch. Lily was listening intently when all of a sudden she got a painful sting in her head. No one noticed as she closed her eyes tightly and breathed in deeply against the pain. 'Lily, you canNOT be getting a headache right before the game. Your team needs you. Just think of it as it's all in your mind. You feel fine, and your going to beat the Revenclaw team good.' She shook her head and focused her attention on James.  
  
When the team made its way to the pitch cheers were heard all around the stadium. Lily could hear Peter commentating over the loudness. The Ravenclaw team was already there and had their brooms ready. The Gryffindor team took their brooms as well and the teams took their position. Proofessor Hooch, the new flying teacher, made her way onto the pitch and stated she wanted a nice, clean game from all. Then she blew the whistle and the game began. (A/N- I'm not sure how to write a good Quidditch game, so bear with me. It'll probably be a short one.) Eric took hold of the quaffle and made his way to the goals. He passed to Molly when he saw Kelsey Kirk coming his way. Molly caught the quaffle and made the goal. "10- 0 Gryffindor" Peter shouted. The game went that way for quite some time. Lily was just sitting on her broom, looking bored. The other two chasers weren't passing her the ball at all. Since she had nothing better to do, she just decided to wait and watch just incase they needed her help. That was when things got weird.  
  
Lily felt the pain in her head again, only this time, she felt it in her stomach as well. 'Maybe the pumpkin juice was bad this morning, or something.' She thought to herself as she felt her stomach tight. She looked around the stadium and saw Dumbldore, McGonagall and the rest of the teachers watching the game from their seats. Dumbldore looked over at her and caught her eye. He gave her a small smile. She managed a weak one in return. Then she turned to watch the rest of the game. In a matter of seconds, things got weirder. Lily looked around and saw a blugder zooming around. That wasn't very weird at all. The weird thing was, Sirius nor Remus followed it and tried to hit it towards the other team. Lily also noticed this bludger was going 'a lot' faster than normal. She looked around, trying to catch sight of Sirius of Remus. She saw them a few feet away, but...it looked like their brooms weren't able to move. They tried to jerk them, but they wouldn't budge. They looked at each other, confused. Lily then rested her eyes on James, who was busy looking for the snitch, not noticing the problem. Molly had just scored another goal and Eric was giving her a high five. Derek, their keeper, was busy yawning and not paying attention. Then, Lily saw something that made her heart skip a beat. The blugder was heading straight for James. James saw this and appeared to try and move out of the way, but his broom was stuck as well. If James didn't move out of the way soon, he would surely be dead. That bludger was strong enough to break bones, and it was going quick enough to knock him off his broom. They were about fifty feet up in the air. No human could survive that kind of a fall.  
  
All this was going through Lilys head in a matter of seconds. Then, in a moment of understanding, Lily knew what she must do.  
  
Her eyes widened in shock. "JAMES, LOOK OUT!" she was yelling as she sped her broom closer and closer to James. He looked over at her, his face pale and fear in his eyes, he didn't comprehend what was happening. Everyone stopped what they were going and looked in horror at what was happening. All except two people. One of which was the person in the dark cloak that morning.  
  
Time seemed to go by in slow motion for Lily. If she really had been listening hard, she could distinctly hear the soft melody of 'What a Wonderful World', her father's favorite tune before he died. (A/N- If you can, I suggest playing the song in the background while you read this. But hey, just a suggestion) Inch by inch she was closer to James. She saw him finally realize what was about to happen. He glanced at the speeding bludger then back at Lily. His eyes widened in fear. He started to mouth 'NO!' but she didn't listen, she just gave him a sad smile. She pushed him and his unmoving broom with her small hands out of danger and she herself got hit right in the chest. The cracks were so loud, she was sure everyone in the stadium could hear her bones break. With the soft melody still playing in her mind, she fell off her broom, still in slow motion. She knew she was about to die. She grabbed her locket subconsciously; she hadn't taken it off since Sirius had given it to her for that Christmas. All her memories flashed before her eyes.  
  
~/Flash/~  
  
Her first day of kindergarten.  
  
"Hello, and what's your name?" Mrs. Brooks asked the little redhead in front of her.  
  
She answered shyly, "My name's Lily."  
  
"And why are you crying, Lily" she asked.  
  
"I miss James. He's not at this school." The little girl replied.  
  
~/Flash/~  
  
"Daddy?" a little girl age four came up to her father and asked softly.  
  
"Yes, Princess?" he replied, looking down at his precious daughter from his chair in their living room.  
  
"Can you watch this movie with me?" she asked, holding up Peter Pan.  
  
The father smiled, "Sure, pumpkin, put it in."  
  
~/Flash/~  
  
"MUMMY MUMMY!" a five year old yelled, excited. Her mother rushed into the room.  
  
"What? What is it dear?!" her mother asked.  
  
"I read the book. I can read!" her mother swept her up into a big hug.  
  
~/Flash/~  
  
"James, please don't go. You're my bestest friend." Lily of age six pleaded.  
  
"I know. You're my bestest friend too, flower." he said. "But I have to go. Don't worry. We can always write to each other. And who knows, maybe one day, I'll be back."  
  
"(Sniff) ok James. Bye" she whispered the last word  
  
"Bye"  
  
~/Flash/~  
  
"Lily, hun, are you alright?" her mother asked the six year old.  
  
She sniffed and looked up, tears were streaming down her face. "No, I miss James."  
  
"Lily, you can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of your loss, or you can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift you have- life itself. I know you miss James, but you need to go outside, play, do something. It's been two weeks; you can't sit around and mope. Please go and play." Her mother urged.  
  
Lily sniffed again, wiped her tears and smiled, "Ok, mommy. Thanks, I love you."  
  
~/Flash/~  
  
The eleven year old, Lily's eyes widened in shock as she read the letter. "Mum! Daddy!" her parents rushed into the room.  
  
"What is it, Princess?" her father asked, concerned.  
  
Lily smiled in disbelief, "I-I think I'm a witch."  
  
~/Flash/~  
  
It was about ready time for Lily to go. Petunia looked over at her and glared. Lily sighed and said, "Petunia, why do you hate wizards so much?"  
  
"Because they're not normal." She replied. Then her expression changed a little. She got up and walked over to Lily. "Why do you have to one of them? Why are you leaving us?" she took Lily by surprise.  
  
"I'm not leaving you guys. I'm just going to school, it's not like I'm leaving the family." She replied. Surprising her, Petunia hugged Lily, almost stiffly. Then as quick as she did it, she let go of her little sister, well, ex little sister now. She turned around and said quietly to herself, "You are leaving the family. In my heart, as of now, I have no sister." She didn't mean for Lily to hear it, but she did.  
  
~/Back to the Present with James/~  
  
"LILY!!!!!!!!!" James screamed in terror as she was knocked off her broom.  
  
"Sh*t" Sirius whispered, horrified.  
  
"Oh God." Remus breathed as he watched her fall.  
  
Dumbledore was trying everything in his power to stop her fall, or at least lessen it. 'There's dark magic on her!' Dumbledore realized with terror. He couldn't stop her fall; something was making sure of that. On his right, he heard McGonagall gasp and the teachers all around him having similar reactions.  
  
With a sudden jerk, the three brooms all came back to life. James took action.  
  
Everyone held their breath as she continued to fall.  
  
Lily was still conscious, though not fully alert, as she continued to fall. Flashbacks were still playing themselves through her head. And the melody. The sweet melody was still playing, though coming to an end. As she waited for the last second of her life, she blinked once and took in her last breath. The music ended.  
  
James tried racing his broom down, but it was too late. With a sickening 'thud' she hit the ground. His heart thudded painfully in his chest as a tear made its way down his cheek. He, Remus, and Sirius raced as fast as they could down to where her lifeless body was sprawled around. Everyone came soon after.  
  
James raced over to her and gathered her in his arms. "Lily!" he gasped and he checked her pulse. He almost fainted with relief when he heard an almost non-existent one. He turned to Sirius, Remus, and now Peter. "She's alive."  
  
He saw similar reactions on almost every face there. Then he saw Dumbldore make his way over, with the rest of the teachers.  
  
"Minerva, fetch Madame Pomfrey. Quickly!" Dumbldore said, the twinkle gone from his eye.  
  
No one saw two people still in the stadium, looking quite proud of themselves.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
In the common room thirty minutes later, James, Sirius, and Peter were all worried to the extreme. James was pacing the floor, Sirius was hovering near the portrait hole, Peter was looking sad, but stupid. Remus stayed close to the hospital wing, waiting for any information. At that moment, the portrait swung open and Remus walked in, looking worried and tired. James and Sirius rushed towards him.  
  
"What happened?!"  
  
"Is she ok?"  
  
"Is she alive?!"  
  
"What did Madame Pomfrey say!?"  
  
Remus held his hand up to stop the flow of questions. He had a frown on his face and asked quietly, "I don't know anything yet. Dumbledore thought it best if I came here and waited with you."  
  
"Oh.", was all they could manage to say. Then they saw Remus' eyes flash.  
  
"Now I want to know what was really going on with you two and Lily!" Remus shouted, starting to get real angry. Both boys jumped at his sudden outburst.  
  
"Um..." James said.  
  
"And I want the truth." Remus said, uncharacteristically impatient.  
  
James looked over at Sirius, who nodded. James sighed and said, "A couple of weeks ago, Lily said something to Malfoy." James stopped and Sirius took over for him.  
  
"She told him about you, Remus. About you being a werewolf." He said.  
  
"I'm sorry, man." James said, looking to the ground. Sirius closed his eyes. They were both so torn between being angry at Lily and being worried about Lily. James was really confused. Lily just saved his life, risking her own in the process. Why did she do that? After the way we were treating her, she still saved his life.  
  
Remus' brows furrowed in confusion, "Lily didn't tell." James and Sirius' heads snapped up.  
  
"What?" James asked. Peter squeaked a little in the background.  
  
"Lily didn't tell Malfoy. Peter did." Remus looked over at Peter who nodded his head in conformation, "He even told me himself and apologized a lot."  
  
"He did!?" Sirius demanded.  
  
"Yeah, I told him that right after he got back from the hospital last week." Peter came over and replied for Remus.  
  
"Wait." James said suspiciously, "You didn't tell us? Why not? You knew that's why we were mad at Lily."  
  
"No I didn't. I just knew you were mad at her. You didn't tell me why." Peter rationalized.  
  
Sirius made a frustrated movement with his hands, "Then why didn't you 'ask' us? You were just mad at Lily for no reason?!"  
  
Peter squeaked and stuttered, "W-well, e-everyone was mad at h-her, so..." his voice trailed off.  
  
"So you just decided to be mad at her as well." James finished for him, looking angry.  
  
Remus didn't want them to start fighting and another thought popped into his mind, "Wait, 'everyone' is mad at her?"  
  
"Yeah." Sirius answered, "Pretty much the whole school."  
  
Remus looked confused again, "Why?"  
  
That question seemed to be unanswerable. "We honestly don't know. We didn't tell anyone why we were mad at her, no one else really had any reason to hate her."  
  
Sirius looked puzzled as well, "Think we should ask Dumbledore about this?"  
  
They agreed quickly and headed off to find the Headmaster.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
A/N- phew. Wasn't that chapter so sad? Please don't hate me. And please review! (People, I only got four reviews this time. Tut tut) Here's the next preview.  
  
* "I've figured out why the whole school was acting this way."  
  
* "Well when will she wake up?" her silence caused the boys to panic,  
"Madame Pomfrey, when is she going to wake up!?"  
  
* "How is she, Madame Pomfrey?"  
  
* They got expelled for all their crimes they've committed in a matter  
of weeks. 


	18. The Aftermath

"Headmaster!"  
  
"Professor!"  
  
"Dumbledore!"  
  
Dumbledore turned around when he heard 3 of the 4 marauders' voices echoing down the hall. There they were, running along the hall towards him. He was currently waiting outside the hospital wing for word on Lily's condition. When James got there first, then Sirius, then Remus, and finally Peter still running a few feet behind, they were all panting and gasping for breath. They could all see that the twinkle that usually settled itself in the Headmaster's eyes was gone. All they saw in there was worry and concern.  
  
"What can I help you with boys?" the old man asked them.  
  
"Sir, we were all talking about Lily and everything that had been happening. Something is going on with everyone in this school." James said. Dumbledore looked curiously at them, not fully understanding what James meant by this.  
  
Seeing Dumbledore's puzzled expression, Remus took charge and said, "Maybe we should start from the beginning."  
  
Dumbledore nodded and said, "Yes, I think that would be wise. I have noticed some strange behavior directed towards Miss Evans these past few days. Does that have anything to do with what you're going to tell me?"  
  
"That's precisely it. It all started with my last transformation." Remus said.  
  
"I came into the common room last week. I was incredibly angry about what I had just heard from Malfoy. He just finished telling me that he knew about Remus' transformation." Dumbledore furrowed his eyebrows in concern at this, "Anyway, he told me that Lily had told him that afternoon about Remus' secret. I was shocked and mad that Lily would do something like that. I told Sirius what I had heard and he and I confronted Lily about it. She denied telling Malfoy," James looked at the ground, tears filling his eyes, "but we didn't listen. We believed Malfoy, and so we broke off our friendship with her."  
  
"Who told Mr. Malfoy about Mr. Lupin?" Dumbledore asked. Peter squeaked.  
  
"I-I did, Sir." He answered, "I didn't mean to, it just slipped out. He and some of his friends cornered me in the halls. I was quite frightened, and I used my only defense I had. I tried to intimidate them. I told them that my friends would protect me and they better leave me alone. They laughed and said that James, Sirius, and Remus didn't scare them. Then I told them that James could beat them at Quidditch, Sirius was a lot stronger than them, and... I accidentally said that Remus was a werewolf."  
  
"I see." Dumbledore replied, "I can assure you, Mr. Pettigrew, that they will be punished for bullying. Now, on with the story."  
  
"Yes, anyway, when we broke off our friendship with Lily, we stopped talking to her all together. Well, James and I did. We decided to not tell Remus about what happened; he's got too many things to worry about all ready, and it we thought it would've just 'killed' him to know that Lily told. So, we ignored her. The weird part, though, is that everyone in the school started to treat her horribly. For really no reason at all, since we didn't tell anyone about what happened." Sirius said.  
  
"So you see, Headmaster, everyone is acting rather odd, don't you think. One day, Lily's the most popular girl in school, and the next, it's like everyone hates her." James finished.  
  
Dumbledore looked baffled at the end of the story. "Well, Mr. Potter, that does explain a lot." He stopped talking and appeared to be deep in thought; "I wonder..." he trailed off, looking as though he just figured something out.  
  
James saw this look and said excitedly, "What? What is it, Professor?"  
  
Dumbledore just said distractedly, "Hm? Oh boys, I have something I must do right now; you wait here if you'd like, and find out more on Miss Evans condition." Then he added in a slightly mysterious voice, "I think there's more to this story than meets the eye." Then he walked off.  
  
That left the four guys alone waiting to hear news on their friend.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
After Dumbledore left James and his friends, he walked swiftly up to his office. Once there, he rushed to one of his bookshelves and searched for something in particular. Finally, he let out a triumphant 'ah-ha!' He took what appeared to be an old tattered olive green book from its spot on the shelf and walked over to his desk.  
  
Flipping through the pages, he finally came to the one he wanted. After reading more and more through that page, his eyes showed more understanding and he knew exactly what was going on in his school right behind his back. At that moment, Professor McGonagall appeared at his door.  
  
"Headmaster, any news on little Miss Evans?" she asked, worry etched in her voice. Dumbledore looked solemn when he heard the words 'Miss Evans'.  
  
He sighed and said tiredly, "I'm afraid not, Minerva. Poppy has yet managed to stable her."  
  
"What happened out there, Albus? Couldn't you have stopped her fall?" McGonagall asked, confused.  
  
"I daresay I tried. It appears that Miss Evans had dark magic upon her, making it impossible for me to levitate her."  
  
McGonagall gasped, "You mean, this was all planned?!"  
  
"Yes, I'm afraid there is more to this story than meets the eye, Minerva. Something has been going on in this school without my knowledge." Dumbledore said.  
  
"What do you mean, Albus?"  
  
"Remember the other day when we were discussing how odd things were around here?" he asked.  
  
"Yes." She replied, not sure where this was going.  
  
"I've figured out why the whole school was acting this way." He tapped the book in front of him. "It seems that someone has been using the Agresivio Anguera potion on all the students." McGonagall's eyes widen in astonishment. The Agresivio Anguera potion was a strong liquid that makes a person hate another for no reason whatsoever. Only the maker of the potion can choose who the target of the hatred is.  
  
"Somebody's been using dark magic on 'all' the students? How did they manage to do that to everyone?" McGonagall asked.  
  
Dumbledore shook his head. "That's something we'll have to find out once we figure out who the culprits are. And I can assure you that I will have them expelled immediately. Using dark magic on students is simply crossing the line."  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
The guys were waiting for fifteen minutes after Dumbledore left before the door to the infirmary opened and Madame Pomfrey stepped out. She looked downcast with remorse in her eyes. She looked around, expecting to see Dumbledore, instead she saw the boys looking at her anxiously.  
  
"Where's Headmaster Dumbledore?" she asked.  
  
They shrugged, "He said he had something real important to do." Remus answered.  
  
The young nurse nodded. "How is she?" James asked his eyes wide with apprehension.  
  
She sighed and said, "Come with me." She led them over to Lily's bed. Blood drained from James' face when he saw her. Sirius had to look away; it hurt too much to see her like this. Remus clenched his jaw in an effort not to cry. Peter just looked confused. Lily's normal cheerful face was incredibly pale; it looked as though she were dead. She had bandages in numerous places. She had a cast on her left arm. Her stomach was rising and falling in unsteady breaths.  
  
"Well, she's finally stable. She had about five broken ribs, and her left arm was quite a mess, though I'm fixing at this very moment. Though the bruises on her stomach I cannot, they'll have to heal on their own. I've bandaged up all her cuts; she had quite a few from her drop. And I also found some kind of poison in her bloodstream. The cause of it, I cannot be sure. It's a very mild sort of potion. It's made to kill the victim. It almost did." Surprisingly to the boys, her eyes started to fill with tears. She added on shakily, "She was officially dead for about five minutes... but then, 'somehow' she came back to us. That got her out of the danger of the poison."  
  
The four boys looked as though they would throw up. But, James said hopeful, "But... she's alright now, right. I mean... she's in no more danger anymore?"  
  
The nurse sighed sadly and, with her voice quivering, said, "Under different circumstances, she would most likely be just fine...Her head, though, when she fell, I think she must have banged it against a wall, or something, because, she has some... brain damage. She hasn't regained consciousness since her fall." The nurse explained.  
  
"Well when will she wake up?" Sirius asked shakily.  
  
Her silence caused the boys to panic," Madame Pomfrey, when is she going to wake up!?" James asked again, more forcefully.  
  
The nurse sighed sadly and said, "That, boys, is the mystery. I'm not sure when...or if, she will wake up."  
  
Remus asked hopelessly, "C-can't you just...use the Enerviate spell on her? Sh-she 'has' to wake up, Madame Pomfrey!"  
  
Madame Pomfrey shook her head and closed her eyes, "I'm afraid the Enerviate spell won't work to wake her up. She is unconscious due to a non- magic incident. The spell only works if you use it to stun someone or something along those lines." She looked down at the pale unconscious girl on the bed, "We'll just have to pray that she wakes up on her own." With that said, the nurse left the four boys alone to themselves.  
  
James just stared at Lily, tears filling his eyes. He couldn't believe that this is his best girl friend. How could this sweet, innocent angel be in here, in this condition? 'It's all my fault.' He thought to himself. 'If I just believed my best friend, instead of my worst enemy, like I should have, this would have never happened.' They used to be inseparable when they were little; how could he do that to her? She was never anything short of loyal to him all her life, and he treated her like he would have Snape.  
  
The Marauders took seats all around Lily, just staring at her with pale faces. Finally, after 20 minutes of silence, James said quietly, without taking his eyes off Lily, "It's all my fault."  
  
Three heads snapped up in response to James statement.  
  
"James, this isn't your fault." Remus said softly. Then, he looked down at the still form of Lily and whispered, "It just happened."  
  
But James was stubborn and so he shook his head and said louder, angry at himself, "No! It 'is' my fault. If I hadn't listened to Malfoy, we would have still been friends and I would have paid closer attention to Lily at the Quidditch match. I wouldn't have let her risk her life for me if I had been a better friend!"  
  
They sat in total silence except for the occasional 'beep' sound on Lily's heart monitor. Then, finally, Sirius spoke up and said bluntly, "That's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard, James."  
  
James looked up, startled at what his best friend said, "What?" he asked, tears still in his eyes.  
  
"Lily would have risked her life for you anyway, even if you had a chance to stop it, which you didn't." Remus started.  
  
"Why did she have to do it!? I did nothing but treat her horribly and then she still almost 'kills' herself for me! Why?" James whispered the last word, a tear making its way down his face.  
  
"Because you're her best friend. Lily's the kind of person that can forgive and forget so easily; it doesn't matter what you did... what we did." Sirius explained sadly.  
  
"She's the best person I know. She didn't deserve this. All because of that 'stupid' bludger." James added bitterly.  
  
Remus looked thoughtful, "Do you suppose the bludger was fixed." The others looked questionably at him so he added, "I mean, it was going 'a lot' quicker than a normal bludger... and it looked as though it was headed straight for you, James. That's probably why Sirius and my brooms wouldn't work right. Is that what happened to your broom?" he asked James.  
  
"Yeah. I couldn't move it. And I think Lily realized that." James answered.  
  
"There's just one thing that bothers me. Why couldn't Dumbledore stop Lily's fall? I'm sure with his power he could have levitated her or something." Remus said.  
  
"I k-know w-why." Peter stuttered, speaking for the first in a while. The three boys whipped their heads to face him. They forgot he was even there.  
  
"Why, Peter?" Remus asked.  
  
"I-I overheard Dumbledore talking t-to Madame Pomfrey. H-he said that s- someone put a d-dark spell on her." Peter explained.  
  
The other three looked alarmed. "So not only was someone trying to kill James..." Sirius started.  
  
"... But they were 'also' trying to kill Lily." Remus finished.  
  
"But 'why'?" James asked.  
  
"That's the big question." Remus answered.  
  
Just then, the doors opened and Dumbledore came in. Madame Pomfrey was at her desk working on some paper work; but she got up and walked over to him when he entered.  
  
"How is she, Madame Pomfrey?" they heard him ask. She said a few things and they saw his face look older by the minute. When she finished talking, and with a heavy sigh, he walked over to the other four boys.  
  
"Hello, James, Sirius, Remus, Peter. Why don't you all go and get some rest. It's getting pretty late." Seeing James open his mouth to protest, Dumbledore added, "I'll be sure to tell you the moment anything changes. But for now... get some rest." He repeated.  
  
The boys nodded and left the hospital wing, reluctantly. When they were gone, Dumbledore turned his attention back to Madame Pomfrey, who was checking over Lilly again.  
  
"Did you find out who did this, Albus." The nurse asked, still a little upset over what has happened.  
  
Dumbledore sighed heavily again and said, "Yes, Poppy. It was who I feared it would be. Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Avery have been accused and proven guilty of poisoning both Miss Evans and Mr. Potter's drink and putting a spell on every student in this school."  
  
The nurse looked confused for a moment, "Albus? They said they poisoned 'both' Miss Evans and Mr. Potter?"  
  
"That's right, Poppy." Dumbledore said, knowing where she was going with this, he added, "Miss. Evans apparently saw someone put the substance in Mr. Potter's drink and she must have distracted him from drinking it. The point of the matter is, he didn't drink his pumpkin juice, but she, in fact, did."  
  
Madame Pomfrey shook her head sadly.  
  
"They were also guilty of cursing the bludger that was out of control and also of putting a dark curse on Miss Evans." He went on. "Since they are underage, they cannot be sent to Azkaban, but I did punish them to the best of my ability."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
So they got expelled for all their crimes they've committed in a matter of weeks, forbidden to ever return to school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N- how's that chapter? I'm SOOOO sorry for the wait. I haven't been feeling well lately and I finally got around to getting this chapter done just this morning. Thank you for my reviews everyone!  
  
* "Oh, my little Jamsie Wamsie. Don't let a stupid 'mudblood' get you down like this."  
  
* "We've expelled the person responsible for this."  
  
* "Good riddance." "See you when we catch you to put you in Azkaban,  
Lucy"  
  
* "Students, I'm very sorry to say something terrible has been going  
on in this school without my knowledge.  
  
* Tears made their way down some faces at that moment.  
  
* The whole school wore black.  
  
* "Has she woken up yet?"  
  
* "James. You gotta get out of here. Get something to eat... do  
'something'!"  
  
* As James, Sirius, and Remus walked out onto the Quidditch pitch,  
they saw something that made their hearts skip a beat.  
  
* "This one's for you, flower." He whispered. 


	19. For Lily

The marauders were sitting in the common room, staring at the fire. Dumbledore suggested they get some rest, but none of them could even think about sleeping.....except for Peter, who was snoring quite loudly at one end of the couch. None of the other Gryffindors really mentioned Lily, though James could see a difference in the way they were acting about her. It was almost as if they cared or something. They would pass by them sitting on the couch and give them sympathetic stares. Of course, not all the kids were being so sympathetic. Leave it to Lily's snotty roommates to go and say something completely stupid.  
  
Upon seeing her 'boyfriend' sitting on the couch, looking depressed with his friends, Cassandra just 'had' to make him feel better.  
  
"Oh, my little Jamsie Wamsie. Don't let a stupid 'mudblood' get you down like this." She said as she sat down on his lap, throwing her arms around his shoulders. She was looking so intently on James as she said this that she didn't notice the others' reactions. But she was quite surprised with James'.  
  
"THAT'S IT!!!!!!" he yelled as he jumped up in fury, causing Cassandra to tumble to the ground with a loud 'thump'. He stared down at her with burning rage in his eyes. "I've had enough of your whining and constant 'pay attention to me' attitude!" The people in the common room looked over at him when they heard his outburst. Most of them were smiling and smirking when they saw who he was yelling at. Cassandra was finally being put in her place, and everyone was enjoying every minute of it. All except her two lap dogs, who were standing over in the corner eyes widened in shock. Remus and Sirius, and Peter who had woken up during that time, were all smirking and watching in amusement.  
  
Cassandra had said many stupid things in her day, but what she just said about Lily was the worst thing she could have said. "LILY IS IN THE HOSPITAL WING, UNCONSCIOUS AND ALL YOU DO IS CALL HER A 'MUDBLOOD'?! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU??!!" When he said this, all the faces in the common room dropped their amused expressions and glared at the girl on the floor, not realizing that just a few days ago, they themselves were calling Lily the exact same thing, though without their knowledge, mind you. When James saw them glare at Cassandra he addressed them as well, "Don't think for one moment that we were any better to Lily. Not one of us was treating her right for the past week." After that said, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter all walked out the portrait hole, leaving behind many confused people and the utterly embarrassed Cassandra.  
  
Nobody in the common room understood what James meant by that comment. No one really even talked to Lily for the past week, let alone insulted her, or so they thought. Of course, none of them realized that they were under a spell as well.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Outside the portrait hole, the boys were absolutely fuming.  
  
"The nerve of them all! Here they were treating Lily like that, for no reason, and then all of a sudden they just 'forget' all the stuff they did!" James ranted on.  
  
"Well, James, you have to admit. We sort of were doing the same thing." Sirius rationed.  
  
James considered that and said, "You're right. We did do the same thing. But still, at least we had a little bit of a reason. We thought she sold Remus out. They had no reason to hate her."  
  
"Actually Mr. Potter, they did." A wise old voice spoke behind them, causing them to jump and turn around in surprise.  
  
"Professor! Is there any news on Lily?" Remus asked hopefully.  
  
Dumbeldore sighed and said, "I'm afraid not, Mr. Lupin. She is still unconscious. Madame Pomfrey says she is in a coma for now and doesn't know when she will awaken." Dumbledore paused, letting them digest the information, and then he said "I have something I must inform you about. Come, follow me to my office." They nodded and followed along, wordlessly.  
  
When they got to his office, and situated themselves in seats, they peered at Dumbledore curiously. He looked at them for a few moments, looking sad and tired and said to them, "You'll be pleased to know that "We've expelled the person responsible for this. Actually 'persons' responsible for this."  
  
"But responsible for what, Headmaster?" Sirius asked.  
  
"There were some things going on here for quite some time, which I hadn't known about. Two students, Mr. Lucius Malfoy and Mr. Ricky Avery, apparently, though there really is no proof to back this up, it is just my assumption, have been working for Lord Voldemort," Surprising Dumbledore, only Peter flinched at his name while the other three just waited for him to continue, unfazed by the word. "They were using Dark magic on the school. Not the teachers, just the students. Boys," he continued, "have you ever heard of the Agresivio Anguera potion?"  
  
James, Sirius, and Remus all widened their eyes in shock then understanding after a few moments. Peter looked clueless as he asked, "What's that?"  
  
James, not hearing Peters comment, asked Dumbledore with horror, "They put that spell on the 'entire' school?"  
  
Dumbledore nodded.  
  
"How could they do that to the 'entire' school?" Remus asked, confused. "That's pretty advanced dark magic, isn't it?"  
  
"Yes, Mr. Lupin, you are correct. And that's not the only Dark Magic they did. I'll explain that part in a moment. The answer to your question, though, is that they've been training for years apparently. They also managed to distract the house elves in the kitchens so they could put the potion in everybody's drinks."  
  
"Did they use the spell on us, too?" Sirius asked.  
  
Dumbledore shook his head. "No, they didn't need to. When Mr. Malfoy told James that Miss Evans had informed him of Mr. Lupin's condition, they had that all planned out. They figured you all would be angry with her for telling his secret, so they saw no reason of using the potion on you four." He paused, looking thoughtful and added, "As well as Miss Wellington, Miss Rocks, and Miss Abraham (Cassandra, Kelly, and Stacie for those who don't know their last names) though I don't know why..."  
  
James, Sirius, and Remus knew why. Obviously they didn't need to use the potion on them. It was pretty much common knowledge throughout the school that Lily's 'only' enemies were those three. It would have been pretty redundant to use a hating potion on someone who already did in the first place.  
  
"As for the rest of the school; they don't have any recollection of being hostile to Miss Evans. Mostly, they think they just haven't spoken to her since last week. So, naturally, they are acting like they did nothing wrong, because, in their minds, nothing happened concerning them with her."  
  
He paused again, letting the words sink in. James was the first to speak, "Headmaster, you said that, that wasn't the only Dark Magic they did. What else did they do?"  
  
"Ah, yes. That wasn't all they did. This Dark Magic wasn't exposed to the rest of the school. James," Dumbledore looked him right in the eye, seriously, "They also tried to poison you and Miss Evans."  
  
All four boys paled at this. Sirius looked frantically over at James; Remus widened his eyes, terrified at what he just heard. Peter for once, seemed to realize what was going on and he gave an 'eeep' sound. James looked in shocked at Dumbledore and asked in a shaky voice, "W-what? W-why?"  
  
Dumbledore shrugged his shoulders and said, "That I do not know at the moment, James. The teachers and I, though, are taking extra precautions to keep you safe because, whether we want to face the truth or not, Voldemort has connections inside Hogwarts. I suggest that no matter where you go, always have someone with you." He cautioned.  
  
James nodded, then he realized something else, "That's the poison Madame Pomfrey found in Lily bloodstream, isn't it?" not waiting for an answer, he went on, looking more confused for a moment, "If she got poisoned, how is it I wasn't?"  
  
The other three boys in the room listened intently on this, looking horrified at what was being said in the office.  
  
"That is one of the more mysterious parts in this story for me. I was wondering if you could maybe clear that up for me. When Madame Pomfrey traced the poison, she found out it was taken right before the Quidditch game at breakfast. It was in her goblet, it was probably in yours, too. I think Lily saw Mr. Malfoy put something in your drink, though not hers, and tried to distract you from it. Can you think of anything along those lines happening?" he asked.  
  
James looked thoughtful for a moment, then he shook his head. "I can't think of anything like that happening."  
  
But Remus was thinking about something he had seen at that breakfast. There was something off during that time that had nagged him in the back of his mind, subconsciously. He closed his eyes for a moment and a vision of the events of the morning at breakfast flashed before him. Watching Lily walked to the end of the table; James, Sirius, Peter and he talking about their newest prank on the Slytherians; then he looked up, not really looking at anything in particular. Kids all around the room, laughing and joking around. He looked over by the doors on the Great Hall, seeing some suits of armor. THERE!!! That was one of the things that were off. A black figure. Hiding behind the armor. It didn't register to him then, now it did.  
  
But that wasn't all. Something else happened. Something. After Sirius just finished a 'really' corny joke, though they laughed nonetheless, something happened. They were so engrossed in Sirius' 'special' way of telling the joke that they didn't notice Lily come up to them. With James bringing his goblet up to him so he could drink... Lily came up to them, looking a little hysteric, but they really didn't pay attention to that. That must have been the time she realized James' drink was poisoned, because she kept eying the cup warily. She sat down next to James and told him about the prefects meeting. No one else was looking at her. Sirius and Peter seemed to be avoiding her eyes and Cassandra and her friends were trying their best to ignore her after they sent her a cold glare. He, however, smiled friendly at her. Then...as she was talking to James...ugh! What was it!? There was something nagging at him. Something he didn't catch at the time, but it was in his mind buried in the depths of other thoughts. What was it? What was it?... That was it! As she was talking to James, her hand reached unnoticeably to James' goblet. She pushed it away from him and hid it under the table.  
  
"I know how it happened!" Remus exclaimed. The others looked over at him, curiously.  
  
"You do?" James asked.  
  
"Yeah, it was when Lily was telling you about the prefects meeting. She hid your goblet from view as she was talking to you. I must have noticed it, though really thought nothing of it at the time. I also noticed a black figure hiding behind the suits of armor. That must have been Malfoy. I'm guessing Lily saw him slip the potion into your drink and immediately distracted you." He explained.  
  
Dumbledore nodded, "Yes that makes the situation easier to understand."  
  
James' face was ashen. Twice she saved his life; and she paid dearly for doing it. "So she saved my life from the poison as well. While she didn't realize hers was poisoned. Because I'm guessing Malfoy did it the same time as he did mine. She must have just drank hers and saw me about to drink mine."  
  
There were tears in Sirius' eyes. 'NO ONE DESERVES THIS!' he thought to himself angrily. 'Especially 'not' Lily! If I saw Malfoy right at this moment, I'd rip him to shreds; Avery, too!'  
  
"I'm guessing they also used Dark Magic to make the bludger aim towards me. And also to make sure she didn't get any help while she was falling." James said, snapping Sirius out of his thoughts.  
  
Dumbledore nodded again, in conformation. "Yes, they did. Well, I guess that's all there is to that. Malfoy and Avery have been given the worst punishment in my power. They are both expelled from here. I assure you that the only Malfoy and Avery that makes their way into this building would be their descendents." Dumbledore assured them, "For now, all we can do is hope that poor Miss Evans wakes up. That's all we can do." Dumbledore repeated sadly.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
As the four left his office, they walked down the corridors for a while. When they got to the front entrance, they came across Malfoy walking towards it while carrying his trunk. Malfoy saw them standing there and immediately sneered at them. He stopped when he was right in front of James, with Sirius standing promptly on his right and Remus standing on his left, ready for anything Malfoy might try to pull.  
  
James and Malfoy glared at each other for about two minutes. Finally, still glaring, Malfoy spoke up, "Heard what happened to your mudblood whore. It looks like someone finally realized what needs to be done about the garbage in this school."  
  
"You're right. Someone 'did' realize what needs to be done about the garbage in this school. His name in Albus Dumbledore and he expelled it." Sirius growled.  
  
Malfoy sneered at Sirius then turned his attention back to James, "You had better watch your back, Potter. Unless you want to end up like your filthy mudblood girlfriend."  
  
Remus had to hold James' robes to pull him back from lunging at Malfoy. Peter did the same for Sirius, who looked ready to beat the crap out of him. Malfoy smirked at this, a cold gleam in his grey eyes.  
  
"Your carriage is waiting for you, Malfoy. Why don't you just get in it and leave. I'm sure we'll never have to see each other again." Remus whispered dangerously. Malfoy looked as though he was going to do something like hex them, so Remus said, "Unless we have to call James' father out here to straighten this all out."  
  
Without breaking his glare from James, Malfoy picked up his trunk and started to walk towards the door. A few feet away from it, Malfoy turned around and gave them one last threat to James, "You better be careful, Potter. Your little whore may not always be around to save you."  
  
Without hesitation, Sirius spoke up, him and Remus standing a little in front of James, "Maybe not, but we will." He said in a low serious voice. "Tell your 'master' he can try all the shit he wants with Lily and James. It won't matter because one of us will always be around to help them."  
  
With one more glare, Malfoy turned and walked out to his carriage.  
  
"Good riddance." James muttered to his retreating back.  
  
"See you when we catch you to put you in Azkaban, Lucy" Sirius yelled to Malfoy.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
The next morning, James woke up feeling drained. Somehow last night, he was able to finally sleep. He looked over to the beds of his friends. Remus and Sirius were sleeping soundly and Peter was snoring loudly, a flaw all of them had learned to ignore. They had heard no new news on Lily's condition. All Madame Pomfrey said when they saw her was, "No change."  
  
James knew that that news was better than her being dead, which was still an option. Every moment, his heart held a pain inside. A pain so strong, that he though he was physically hurt instead of mentally. He knew Sirius was going through a pain like his, only a little weaker than his. As close as Sirius is with Lily, he still hadn't known her like James does.  
  
Thirty minutes later, when all the marauders were up and dressed, they walked into the Great Hall and saw many people giving them sympathetic stares. Only this time, James didn't thrash out at them; he knew it wasn't there fault. Cassandra had come up to James and asked if he was going to apologize to her after what she said to him.  
  
James' eyes widened in disbelief, "You've got to be kidding me, Wellington."  
  
Cassandra looked clueless as to why James acted this way, "What do you mean, James. I expect an apology from you. You yelled at me for no reason and-,"  
  
"No reason?" Sirius interrupted, laughing at her stupidity, "Boy, for your sake, I hope your parents bribe your teachers so you get passing grades. Like, hello, you, like, totally, like, dissed Lily, and like, she, like, might die, and like, you 'really' don't, like care. Hmmm, like, I wonder, like, 'why' James would be, like so totally mad at, like, you." He mocked.  
  
Nothing seemed to get that concept into the moron's head. She just stared at Sirius for a minute, with a confused look on her face. Then, without a word, turned her attention back to James, "So, like, are you sorry?"  
  
James let out an exasperated sigh, along with Sirius, Remus and Peter and the four of them walked off without a word to Cassandra. They sat themselves down at their usual place and half-heartedly gathered food onto their plates. Lily always joked about their eating habits. About five minutes later, Dumbledore stood up and gave the very sad speech, "Students, I'm very sorry to say something terrible has been going on in this school without my knowledge."  
  
The students who hadn't been paying attention earlier, now looked up at him with astonishment evident on their faces. As Dumbledore went through the heart-wrenching events that had been happening right under everyone's noses, no one made a sound.  
  
Then he got to the part about everyone all being under a spell and them all saying and doing hateful things to Lily. Tears made their way down some faces at that moment. No one had any recollection on even talking to Lily, and here they were hearing that they hated her this last week. Though Dumbledore didn't say it, most realized that they probably even went as far as to call her a mudblood, a non-forgivable action to most. The information was getting to people so strongly, that even Cassandra and her buddies had frowns on their faces.  
  
"-We, the staff, do not know if she will make it through this whole ordeal alive, or not." Dumbledore went on, saying something similar to what he will be saying close to twenty years from now after the most horrible incident can happen to an individual, "And so, when, if in the future, you come to a point when you have to choose between good and evil, remember this tragedy. Remember what Lily Evans did to protect the ones she loves."  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
After Dumbledore made his speech, the students were different. No longer the carefree, self-centered kids they were, they grew up in a way. Much more mature. A week had passed and still there was no change in Lily. The whole school wore black to show their concern and pity. Though not decease, they new in their hearts that it was as possible of happening as her getting better. Her odds were 50/50.  
  
All through school, you would hear people talking about the accident. Phrases like, "Has she woken up yet?" or "Did you go to see her?" where heard throughout the halls. Many came up to the marauders to ask about her condition, or to simply give their sympathies.  
  
The marauders. That's where most of the drama took place. James had seemed to distance himself from his friends and take refuge in the hospital wing. Whenever he wasn't sleeping or in class, you could find him there, taking in all the flowers and 'get-well' cards around her bed. Her cuts and bruises became less visible. She was still as pale as can be, though. Her arm was healed, though it never moved. She never moved. It disturbed James to see her like this. She was never this still, even when she was asleep. To see someone who was usually so full of life like this, it was like having your heartbreaking every time over and over again when you looked at her.  
  
James refused to leave to eat meals, insisting that she may wake up without him there. On the tenth day of him doing this, Remus and Sirius came into the room, proclaiming loudly and seriously "James. You gotta get out of here. Get something to eat... do 'something'!"  
  
"What if she wakes up? She won't see me here. What will she do if she doesn't see me here, holding her hand and waiting for her?" James replied.  
  
"I think Lily would understand. James, you of all people know that she would 'hate' the way you're behaving." Remus said.  
  
James was silent, just staring at the still form of Lily, "James, you know she wants you to get out of here and do something other than sit around here." Remus pressed on.  
  
"You can come back. All we're going to do is grab some food. Maybe we can even pull a prank." Sirius suggested, a sparkle in his eye.  
  
James seemed to hesitate about that. Sirius noticed his looked and said quickly, "We could dedicate it to Lily. Come on, you know who she 'loves' pranks."  
  
That seemed to do the trick, "Alright. We'll pull a prank. But right after that, we head straight back here." He insisted.  
  
"Deal." Peter replied. The four walked out of the wing to the Great Hall.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
After the prank, James seemed to be recovering. He laughed more with his friends. The four of them thought about Lily often. They still felt guilty, though they didn't let it eat up their lives anymore. All pranks they pulled they ended with a white and pink Lily in the air. That brought almost everyone comfort, even the prank victim.  
  
It had been a month since it happened. The boys visited her once a day after their classes and just talked and joked as though she could hear them. This particular day was a Saturday. Not just any Saturday, though. It was a Quidditch game day. The first Quidditch game without Lily there. They had to use one of the back-up chasers. An annoying third year by the name of Gildory Lockhart, who in fact, had an enormous crush on Lily ever since he saw her. Of course, he knew that she was in love with him, she had just been hiding it from him all those years because she thought that he was too good for her...at least that's what 'he' claimed.  
  
The marauders knew that this game would be hard to play. Not because they were playing Hufflepuff...because they sucked, but because Lily wouldn't be there. It would be the second time that Lily wouldn't be there to make sure they ate a healthy breakfast before the match; which had become practically tradition to the Gryffindor players.  
  
Instead of the marauders sitting together alone, they ate with the rest of the Quidditch team, whom were poking at their food half-heartedly. James, since he was the captain and all, decided to take it upon himself this time to make the players eat. He also decided to try and cheer the team up.  
  
"Now team, must I always repeat myself. Like I've said millions and 'trillions'," James started, talking like Lily usually did when she made this speech. And, imitating her, he stretched his arms out as wide as they would go when he said the 'millions and 'trillions' part. "No fuel in the belly, no fire in the brain." When he finished, the players were all staring at him with twinkles in there eyes. The whole table was staring at him, though he knew they were thinking about Lily. "Now come on team. Let's eat!" And with that, he grabbed some food himself and started eating.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
After James had given his pep talk in the locker room, the team minus James, Remus, and Sirius walked to the pitch. The three stayed behind a moment.  
  
"I miss her." Sirius said softly.  
  
"I do too. But hey, she could wake up at any moment." Remus said, trying to sound cheerful.  
  
James sighed sadly and said, "Yeah, well we'd better get out there."  
  
As James, Sirius, and Remus walked out onto the Quidditch pitch, they saw something that made their hearts skip a beat. They stared at the other end of the field and saw a 'large' banner with a white and pink lily on it; much like the one they displayed after every prank. This one, like all the ones before, comforted them. It was almost as though Lily were out here playing with them.  
  
With lighter hearts, they all mounted their brooms and played. They put their heart and souls into this game and it ended up paying off in the end. As soon as James caught the snitch in his hand, the Gryffindors and surprisingly 'everyone' else, Hufflepuffs included clapped, cheered, and whistled while the Gryffindor team and the others gathered around and lifted James up on their shoulders.  
  
James, in a daze, looked at the snitch resting calmly in his hands. Then, he looked up a the banner of the flower and smiled. "This one's for you, flower." He whispered. He looked around for Remus and Sirius and saw them and the rest of the team getting prompted up on the other Gryffindor's shoulders. They looked over at him and he could tell they were thinking about Lily as well.  
  
Then in a much louder voice, James yelled over the crowd's noise, "FOR LILY!!!" That sent the crowd into hysterics and they started to chant, "Lily." Over and over again.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N- how'd you like it? Please tell me in a review.  
  
* Finally, they all made it to the castle.  
  
* She let out a shaky gasp as she took in the unconscious form.  
  
* "She doesn't know when she'll wake up." He said sullenly to his dad.  
  
* "Does her family even know?" "Do you think they care?"  
  
* "I have found something odd, though. On her right shoulder, there is  
a mysterious looking scar."  
  
* Christmas was coming up.  
  
* "Happy Christmas, Lilz." They each said softly.  
  
* "I believe that Miss Evans had gotten your presents quite early this  
year."  
  
* The days and weeks passed and still no sign of change. 


	20. Moving On

After the Quidditch match, the Marauders immediately dashed to the hospital wing. When they got there, they were met by the sight of Dumbledore sitting in a chair near Lily's bed. He looked up when they entered.  
  
"Hello Headmaster." Remus greeted.  
  
"Hello to you too. I saw your game just now. Well done, boys." He said, beaming as though he himself had just won. "Anyway, I'm here for a reason other than to check up on Miss Evans." He went on, then he directed his attention to James, "Your family is finally able to make it up here to see her."  
  
"What took them so long?" James asked.  
  
"Your mother has told me that your father has been a bit busy at the Ministry. This was the fastest they could come. And also the fact that your sister had to finish up something at her school." He answered.  
  
James nodded, "Yeah that makes sense. Melanie told me something about working on a big project for her auror training." Then he went on, "So when are they arriving?"  
  
"Sometime this afternoon" Dumbledore replied. Then, in a slighter business- like tone, he said, "Well, I best be off. I have something important to do." With that said, he walked out the room.  
  
James felt relief flood him when he took it all in. His family would be here. That information made him feel a little better. He'd be able to see his mother, who had always managed to calm him when something bad had happened.  
  
"Well, that's good news, isn't it?" Sirius said, interrupting James' thoughts.  
  
James answered back, "Yep."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
James was pacing back and forth in the hospital wing, in front of Lily's bed, where she was clueless as to what was going on. Sirius was sitting on one of the chairs Dumbledore had occupied a couple of hours ago, bending his head every once and a while to see if anyone was coming into the wing, Peter was sitting on the other one, staring sadly at Lily, Remus was sitting on the bed next to hers, watching James' pacing.  
  
Remus said into the thick silence of the room, "James, would you stop that already? They'll be here soon."  
  
James stopped and muttered something incoherent, but sat down next to him on the bed nonetheless. Just as he sat down, the doors whooshed open. James sprang back up onto his feet as quickly as he sat down. It appeared that finally, they all made it to the castle. His sister was the first on he saw. She looked much more serious then the last time he saw her; but that could have only been expected when you were about to see a close friend in a coma. Her dark brown hair was as usual, swept up into a pony tail. A little bit of eye makeup could be detected from behind her thin-framed glasses. She looked around the room, and immediately spotted the marauders. Smiling slightly, though it did not reach her eyes, she made her way over to them.  
  
James' father and mother followed not far behind her. They both looked the same as usual, other than their expressions, which were noticeably sullen and old. They too managed small smiles. Seeing James, his mother rushed forward and hugged him.  
  
"Umph!" James grunted, almost being knocked over, "'Lo mum." He said simply.  
  
"Oh, James darling, how are you? Are you eating right? You're looking a bit too skinny if you ask me." His mother said quickly.  
  
"I'm fine, mum. I'm eating healthy and getting good grades." James replied, looking exasperated and embarrassed both at the same time. He heard his friends sniggering quietly behind him and inwardly groaned. She always did that in front of people!  
  
His father placed a hand on his mother's shoulder. When she looked up at him expectantly, he nodded his head towards the bed, which she had yet to notice. She let out a shaky gasp as she took in the unconscious form.  
  
James thought she couldn't have reacted anymore realistically. His sister and his father both looked down at her as well, faces pale. Lily still looked as though she were dead. Gone were the cuts and bruises, her face was drained of emotion; so unlike her normal self.  
  
The four boys looked at their reactions. James' mother had tears in her eyes; his father was clenching his jaw in an effort to not cry; his sister, though, was crying silently, not looking at anything but Lily.  
  
"What's Madame Pomfrey's diagnosis on her?" his father asked no one in particular.  
  
"She doesn't know when she'll wake up." He said sullenly to his dad. "I don't know how much you know about her accident, but..." James recounted the entire story to his family.  
  
As each passing word, the three looked more horrified than before.  
  
"We weren't aware of all the obvious effort that went into this conspiracy. All we thought was that the Dark Lord ordered for her death, and his minions just up and attempted it." His father said once James, Sirius, and Remus, and even a little bit from Peter, all explained the story further.  
  
"Does her family even know?" His mother asked suddenly. James closed his eyes, painfully, for a moment, then opened them back up and looked at them.  
  
"Do you think they care?" he replied in more of a tone of a statement than a question.  
  
His mother looked down at her and whispered, "No." then she looked back up at him and said dully, "I don't suppose they do."  
  
"I know they don't." Peter said suddenly. When everyone looked at him with questioningly looks, he went on, "Oh, I owled her sister and told her what had happened about 2 days after her accident. I haven't gotten a reply yet, so I'm assuming that she doesn't care."  
  
Everyone was still staring at him when he finished. This time, not with questioning looks, but admiring looks. James said with awe in his voice, "You did that, Pete?"  
  
Peter nodded quickly, "Yeah."  
  
James walked over and clapped him on the back, "Good job, Petey. I'm sure Lily will be happy to hear that her sister at least 'knows' what went on. Even if Petunia doesn't care." He added.  
  
Peter was beaming with happiness. For once, he did something right. Just then, Madame Pomfrey came over to them.  
  
Mr. Potter walked forward and held out his hand. "Harold Potter." He introduced himself while shaking her hand. "You must be Madame Pomfrey."  
  
She replied, a little surprised that the Minister of Magic knew who she was, "Yes, I'm Poppy Pomfrey. It's an honor to meet you."  
  
"And this is my wife, Anastasia, and of course you know my daughter Melanie." He went on.  
  
"Yes, yes of course I remember Melanie." She said, nodding her head toward Melanie then she shook Mrs. Potter's hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you."  
  
"So, do you have any news on Lily's condition?" Harold asked when all the formalities were done. Sirius, James, Remus and Peter all turned their attention to the nurse, eagerly.  
  
The nurse shook her head sadly and replied, "No, I'm sorry to say there is no change. I'm assuming you know all about her case."  
  
"Yes, James has told us all about it." James' mother answered.  
  
"Yes, well, I do in fact have some news. Though I don't know if it is relevant to Miss Evan's condition." The nurse went on.  
  
"What is it?" Remus asked from his spot on the bed.  
  
"Now like I said before, I don't know if it could help any. I have found something odd, though. On her right shoulder, there is a mysterious looking scar."  
  
Harold furrowed his brows. "A scar? What kind of scar?"  
  
"I'm assuming she got it from her fall, though there was no blood on her robes by her shoulder, so I'm not so certain that is the case. It is in shape of a flower. Most peculiar." The nurse moved to Lily's right side and lowered her shirt off her shoulder so they could see in clear view, a scar.  
  
Mrs. Potter shrugged her shoulders, "Maybe it's a birthmark." She suggested.  
  
James shook his head seriously. "No, Lily didn't have a birthmark on her shoulder. I'm sure of it. She only had one on her left knee after she fell off her bike when she was three."  
  
"James, honey, are you sure that she didn't have any other scars at all. I mean, you missed a few years of her life. Maybe she got it between those years she was gone." His mother said.  
  
James shook his head again, stubbornly. "No, I'm positive that's the only scar she had. After we met up again here, she practically told me her life story. I'm sure she would have mentioned something about another scar."  
  
"Oh well, it really doesn't matter, does it?" His father broke in.  
  
"She's not in danger of dying anymore, is she Madame Pomfrey?" Melanie asked, changing the subject.  
  
The nurse replied, "I'm almost positive she'll live through all this. I just don't know when she'll wake up."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Unfortunately, James' family couldn't stay for very long. Melanie had to get back to college, and James' father had to get back to the Ministry. After he heard that Voldemort tried to poison the kids as well as the other crimes he committed, Harold became even more determined to stop Voldemort. So, a few days later, James said goodbye to his family. Now, the next big event was on its way. Christmas was coming up. James decided he would not be coming home for Christmas; he and the rest of the marauders wanted to stay and spend it with Lily. His parents understood and his mother said that if it wasn't for his father's job, they would be staying for the holiday as well. But since they couldn't, they left the kid's their gifts and the James gave his parents and sister their gifts.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
James and crew decided to ditch their Potions class and sneak off to Hogsmeades to buy their Christmas presents for one another. So, as soon as they arrived there, they bid each other farewell and went their separate ways.  
  
It was around an hour later when they all met up back in the Gryffindor common room.  
  
"I don't know why girls take so long to shop for presents. It only took us approximately forty minutes to buy the stuff." Sirius said when he arrived last.  
  
The other three just shrugged their shoulders. Sirius then took a seat next to James on the sofa, with Remus on his left in a plush chair and Peter next to Remus in a slightly beat up chair. They all had bags at their feet.  
  
Everyone else was in class, so it was safe for them to be in there with shopping bags.  
  
"So, what'd you all get me?" Sirius asked excitedly.  
  
James snorted, "By that tone of voice, I seem to have the strangest impression that we're actually going to tell you."  
  
Sirius started to whine like Cassandra would, "But Jamsieeeeeee. Like, I really want to know, like what you, like, got meeee."  
  
This time, Remus snorted and said, "You better be careful there, Sirius. Start doing that too often and you're going to start sounding that way...permanently."  
  
That shut Sirius up real quick.  
  
Peter widened his eyes and said in a terrified voice, "Does that really happen?"  
  
James rolled his eyes and said, "No Peter. It doesn't happen. Remus just said that to shut Sirius up."  
  
Folding his arms across his chest in a way a two year old would pout, he sniffed and said, "Fine, be that way."  
  
They all laughed at his antics. Then, Remus turned serious and said, "Hey, you guys. What'd you get for Lily?"  
  
They stopped laughing immediately. James and Sirius had looks of sadness on their faces and Peter looked, for the second time that night, terrified.  
  
"W-were we supposed to get something for her?" he sputtered out.  
  
The other three turned their heads sharply to look at him, unbelievable expressions on their faces. "What do you think, Pete?" Sirius asked sarcastically. "Of course we got her something."  
  
"I-I didn't know we were supposed to get her something." Peter said, almost hysterically.  
  
Seeing his worried look, James felt a pang of sympathy for the boys, so he said, "Come on, Peter. Let's hurry back to Hogsmeade and find her something."  
  
"But, James, you'll miss History of Magic. It starts in a half hour." Remus argued.  
  
James shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Oh well, it's just History of Magic. Plus, I think this is the last chance we'll get to go to Hogsmeade before Christmas. Come on Peter." And the two of them left the room.  
  
As it turned out, James and Peter made it back just in time for History of Magic. Since it was the last day of class before Christmas break, is seemed that Professor Binns decided to make the lesson more boring than usual.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
On Christmas morning, Sirius decided to wake up the rest in his own way. He decided to make the boys dormitory a replica of the outside. So, James, Remus and Peter woke up to see that their bed, and themselves, were covered with snow.  
  
"SIRIUS!!!" James bellowed, hearing his friend's maniacal laughter from the common room.  
  
"Presents!" Peter said happily when Sirius came up and got rid of the snow. Peter made a move to open his presents, but James stopped him.  
  
"Let's go see Lily and opened our presents there." He suggested. The others agreed, so they grabbed their gifts and walked to the hospital wing.  
  
They bid Madame Pomfrey a Happy Christmas and then walked over to Lily's bed. Even on Christmas she looked the exact same.  
  
"Happy Christmas, Lilz." They each said softly. James and Sirius took the chairs on either side of her and sat, Remus and Peter sat on the bed beside hers. They had put her presents next to the mound of others at the foot of her bed. James read a couple of the notes on them. Many of her male admirers had gotten her gifts, as well as some others.  
  
They all unwrapped their packages there, exchanging thanks to one another for their gifts. James had gotten Sirius a new broomstick, which Sirius had announced was the greatest gift he'd gotten. He gave Remus a book that he knew he had been wanting. Peter received a Rememberall from him. James received a book of Quidditch from Remus, a broom polish set from Sirius, and a large box of Chocolate Frogs from Peter.  
  
Madame Pomfrey came up to them, holding five gifts in her hands, when they had finished opening the presents,  
  
She cleared her throat and the Marauders turned and looked at her. "I believe that Miss Evans had gotten your presents quite early this year." And she gave them each a colorfully wrapped package.  
  
"How could she have gotten these?" Remus asked.  
  
Madame Pomfrey shrugged and said, "I do not know, but Dumbledore found them somehow and they were addressed to you from Miss Evans."  
  
Then she left them to open their presents. James unwrapped his and saw that Lily had bought him a golden necklace (Not a girly one. A manly one) with a flame of red fire pendant on it. He smiled at it and then looked up at Lily. He reached over and kissed her forehead gently and whispered, "Thank you Lily."  
  
Sirius had gotten a necklace as well. His had a blue raindrop instead of fire. Remus had also got a necklace; instead of a blue raindrop, his had a yellow sun on it. Peter didn't get a necklace like the others. He received a book. When he opened the pages, he noticed they were blank other than a few straight lines going horizontally across the page. The cover of the book said 'Homework Helper'. Remus told him that what he had to do was write the assignment name and subject, along with the teacher's name on there, and the question he needed help on, and the book would help him to solve the problem. James personally thought that that was the best present Peter could have received. No doubt that he definitely would use it.  
  
"Hey, there's another package." Remus pointed out, indicating a much smaller package. "James, why don't you open it. It's addressed to all of us. Look."  
  
He was right. On the top of the gift, a little white card said, "To the Marauders. With Love, Lily."  
  
So, James tore the gift wrap from the little box and when he opened the top, all he saw was another note.  
  
"It's a note." He announced.  
  
"Read it out loud then, why don't you." Sirius replied.  
  
"'Dear Marauders, I know I've already given you your gifts already, but I've decided to give you one as a group as well. No, this isn't it. Give me a little more credit. The gift is down at Hogsmeade at the moment, we'll just have to go down there later on to pick it up. As I'm guessing, Sirius is probably going out of his mind right now waiting to hear what I got you all-,'"  
  
"You got that right." Sirius said, bouncing up and down in his seat. James rolled his eyes and went on.  
  
"'-so I guess I'll tell you. I've gotten you an owl. The official Marauder owl. This way, it will be easier to send messages to each other during the summer and whatnot while the parents use the owls we have right now. Probably a stupid idea, I know. But, hey, don't make fun of me, I'm probably giving you a glare right at this moment. With love, Lily.'" When he finished, no body said a word.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Later that day, they snuck down to Hogsmeades and entered the pet shop there.  
  
Walking up to the counter, James noticed many interesting creatures. One included a phoenix that was staring at him. For some reason, James felt drawn to that bird. Then, finally breaking eye contact with it, they all reached the counter to see a man staring at them.  
  
"Can I help you?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah, um, we're here to pick up an owl our friend got for us." Remus answered.  
  
"And what's this friend's name?" the man inquired.  
  
"Lily Evans" James replied.  
  
The man nodded and said, "Alright, I know who you're talking about. Just a minute." He walked into the back, leaving the boys to look around. James decided to take a closer look at that phoenix he saw.  
  
"Hey Remus." Sirius said loudly.  
  
Remus walked over to where Sirius was. "What?" he asked.  
  
"Take a look at this cat. Ugly little thing, ain't it." Sirius said, laughingly.  
  
Remus grimaced when he saw the cat. It was orange and fat. Not a pretty feline. "What's its name?"  
  
Sirius looked at a plate above the cage the cat was in. "This says its name is Crookshanks."  
  
On the other side of the room, Peter was looking at some frogs in cages. Not far away from there, James was staring intently at the red phoenix. He didn't know why, but he realized that he should buy this bird.  
  
When the man walked back out, the boys walked back up to the front. The man was holding a white, beautiful owl with bright green eyes that reminded James of Lily's.  
  
"Here she is, boys." He said, handing the cage to Remus.  
  
"Thanks." Remus replied.  
  
"Hey, mister, how much is that phoenix?" James asked, pointing to the red bird.  
  
The man looked to where James was pointing and said, "That bird? It's a real rare phoenix. A bit expensive."  
  
"How much?" James asked again, reaching inside his pockets for his money.  
  
"20 galleons." The man replied (A/N-I'm not sure about wizard money, so just overlook that part.)  
  
Peter let out a low whistle, but James nonetheless, pulled out the exact amount.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
When they got out of the shop, the phoenix in James' hand, the owl in Remus' hand, Sirius asked James, "So, why'd you get the bird?"  
  
James shrugged and said, "I dunno. I just don't think a phoenix should be locked up inside a store. Plus, I figured since Lily got me two gifts, so will I."  
  
"So that's for Lily?" Peter asked.  
  
James nodded, "Yep."  
  
"So, what should we name the owl?" Remus asked them.  
  
"Pauly." Sirius replied, sniggering for some reason.  
  
Remus furrowed his brows, "Why Pauly?"  
  
"Pauly wanna cracker?" Sirius answered back, still sniggering.  
  
Remus rolled his eyes and said, "Sirius, that's a parrot."  
  
Sirius stopped laughing for a moment and said, "Oh yeah." Then, he got a gleam in his eye and said, "We should 'get' a parrot."  
  
"What's a parrot?" Peter asked.  
  
"Muggle bird, Petey." Remus replied, then he said to the rest, "But seriously, what should we call it?"  
  
"How 'bout 'Lily'." James suggested.  
  
They agreed to naming the owl Lily.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
And so school went on. The days and weeks passed and still no sign of change for Lily. And as school went on, the teachers seemed more determined to assign more homework than ever. Sirius dubbed this as a conspiracy of the teachers to kill the students with work overload. Remus rationed with Sirius saying that they're just preparing them for the OWLs that were coming up rapidly. Sirius replied that even if that implausible reason was true, there was still a chance that his theory was most likely correct in the Potions teacher's case.  
  
So, whether it was because the teachers were trying to kill them, or the OWLs were coming up, the homework managed to take up most of the guys' time. They had barely had the chance to visit Lily once a week, let alone once a day.  
  
It was now four months since Lily's accident in October. The school had gone back to its original routine. People could get through an entire conversation without mentioning Lily once. The Marauders went on with their pranks, occasionally forgetting to put a lily at the end of it. Quidditch matches went on with Lockhart still playing chaser.  
  
Now, don't get me wrong. Nobody really forgot about Lily. They were just getting use to not having her around. They were moving on. Sirius even started to date as much as before. James also dated, though not as mush as Sirius. Remus was going steady with a fifth year Ravenclaw, though he was planning on ending it soon. Even Peter was dating a girl, a third year Hufflepuff.  
  
It was now February. And more and more people were accepting the fact that their little Hogwarts flower...may never wake up.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N- ok PLEASE don't hate me for this chapter. I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while. I just finished book 5. Extremely sad at one part, but I must say that J.K. Rowling really outdid herself this time. Well, anyway, please read and review and enjoy. Oh, and I feel the need to reply to the reviews. And also, since there is so many, instead of the previews I usually do, I'm going to just give you a scene from the next chapter. Hope that's alright.  
  
SotMoon- thank you so much for pointing that out. You're right, his eyes are blue. Sorry everyone for the mistake.  
  
Dakie- You are right. I've been ignoring Peter. I agree with you. He should be in here more. I've tried to do that in this chapter. Hope that's enough. Thanks for the review.  
  
WithAPenInHerHand- thank you 'SO' much for the review. Actually, the person I was talking about, Avery, was a different person. Not Avery Nott. I feel bad for all of them too. It's so sad, isn't it. Thanks for the review.  
  
JerseyGirl03- thanks for the review! Keep reading!  
  
Anarane Anwamane- thanks so much!  
  
Neo-Queen Serenity- thank you very much for reviewing! I hope you like this update.  
  
Freakyfroggurl22- thank you for reviewing. I love your story, 'Life Is Even More Complicated'. It's a wonderful story!  
  
East of the shore- thank you so much for reading and reviewing. I know, I dislike Cassandra too. Well, I hope you like the update.  
  
Love2write- thank you very much for the suggestion! I might have Snape in here soon. Keep readin'.  
  
Bebe-chrissy- thanks you 'SO' much. I'm honored that you actually cried over this story. That's what I was kind of aiming for ;-). Please keep reading.  
  
EbonyQuill- thanks for the support. So, do I get that cookie? Lol! Keep a- reading, I'm working on my other one, too. ;)  
  
Ravenmist- thank you for reviewing and reading!  
  
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`  
  
The Preview:  
  
The Marauders arrived at the hospital wing in between classes. This seemed to be the only time they could actually manage to see her.  
  
Walking up to her bed, James noticed that the flowers on her bedside were wilted and dying. He realized with a pang in his heart, that no one had been around to change them for her. Not that it was anyone's fault, they were so busy studying and doing their homework that they barely had time to sleep.  
  
"We don't come around here enough." James spoke out, saying his thoughts.  
  
"We've been busy. It's no big deal." Sirius said, shrugging his shoulders.  
  
James sighed and said, "Yeah, I just feel guilty, that's all." And he went over to her bedside and took out the flowers, replacing them with fresher ones.  
  
"Have you guys finished the Transfiguration homework yet?" Remus asked, taking a seat on the bed next to Lily's.  
  
Peter gasped and said, "I forgot about that!"  
  
Sirius and James groaned and said, "So did we!"  
  
Remus said, "You guys better get it done; it's due tomorrow morning."  
  
"Yeah, but when can we finish it?" James asked desperately.  
  
"Should we go and start it right now?" Sirius asked.  
  
"I think you probably should." Remus said.  
  
James sighed and said, "Here's another time when we have to ditch Lily.  
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
Hope you like it! 


	21. Forgetting Memories

A/N- Hey! Ok, this next chapter has a lot of sayings from my last chapters. Just to warn you that you may not remember some of them. If you want, re- read some of the last chapters. Hope this update isn't too boring. Enjoy!!!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"B-but I thought you loved me!" screeched the shrilly, high voice of a 5th year Hufflepuff by the name of Jessica Throne.  
  
"Now, Jess, be reasonable. When did I say that I 'loved' you?" Sirius asked exasperatedly.  
  
"Well, you said you 'loved' my hair like this!" she replied, nearing hysteria.  
  
Sirius raised his eyebrows and said, "That's a tad different than saying that I love you, Jessica."  
  
"Aha!" Jessica screeched, causing Sirius to wince. She pointed a shaky finger a Sirius and made one last, half insane attempt, "See? See, you just said it. You just said you love me! You just said it! Don't deny it!"  
  
Sirius shook his head and said slowly as he turned to walk away, "I'll see you around, Jess."  
  
Sirius walked back into the Gryffindor common room where James, Remus, and Peter were all studying like mad. He plopped down on a chair next to James and took out some textbooks.  
  
"I never thought I'd see the day when Sirius Black cracked open a textbook willingly." Remus muttered, not looking up from the parchment he was writing on.  
  
"Hilarious, werewolf boy. I never thought I'd see the day when the teachers went 'completely' off their rockers, but what can you do." Sirius replied, dryly. Then he said with frustration in his voice, "See? I can't even come up with a decent comeback anymore! Those teachers are sucking the life out of me!"  
  
James shook his head, not looking up from his book, "Sirius, honestly, could you 'ever' come up with a decent comeback 'before' this?"  
  
Sirius 'hmphed' and started reading his textbook.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
It was around 2 o'clock in the morning by the time all of them were done studying and could finally head off to bed.  
  
"I'm beat." Peter said through a yawn.  
  
"Same here." Remus said, plopping down on his bed without even changing into pajamas.  
  
"'Night, guys." James mumbled, half asleep already.  
  
"'Nighty night." Sirius replied sleepily. The next minute, the room was filled with snores.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The next morning, James found himself in Charms class practicing his Shrinking Charm. He half-heartedly flicked his wand in the correct movements. Hard as he tried, he couldn't fully concentrate on the spell. He felt so guilty. It had been a full week since he had gone to visit Lily. The work had just been piling up on them and without her to help them out; it took them forever just to finish one assignment. Of course, they still had help from Remus, but one man can only do so much. Usually, it was Remus and Lily helping out the other three when James and Sirius hadn't been paying attention that day in class. Now, with just Remus, let's just say it wouldn't be surprising if Remus went gray from all this stress.  
  
Remus nudged James to get his attention. James snapped out of his thought and looked at Remus questionably.  
  
"What's with you today?" Remus whispered so the teacher didn't hear.  
  
"I'm thinking about Lily. We should try to make time to see her today. Pass that to Sirius and Peter as well." James whispered back. Remus nodded and did just that. Sirius looked over at him and gave him two thumbs up to show he agreed. Just then, the bell rang and James gathered up his books and joined his friends out the door.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The Marauders arrived at the hospital wing in between classes. This seemed to be the only time they could actually manage to see her.  
  
Walking up to her bed, James noticed that the flowers on her bedside were wilted and dying. He realized with a pang in his heart, that no one had been around to change them for her. Not that it was anyone's fault, they were so busy studying and doing their homework that they barely had time to sleep.  
  
"We don't come around here enough." James spoke out, saying his thoughts.  
  
"We've been busy. It's no big deal." Sirius said, shrugging his shoulders.  
  
James sighed and said, "Yeah, I just feel guilty, that's all." And he went over to her bedside and took out the flowers, replacing them with fresher ones.  
  
"Have you guys finished the Transfiguration homework yet?" Remus asked, taking a seat on the bed next to Lily's.  
  
Peter gasped and said, "I forgot about that!"  
  
Sirius and James groaned and said, "So did we!"  
  
Remus said, "You guys better get it done; it's due tomorrow morning."  
  
"Yeah, but when can we finish it?" James asked desperately.  
  
"Should we go and start it right now?" Sirius asked.  
  
"I think you probably should." Remus said.  
  
James sighed and said, "Here's another time when we have to ditch Lily.  
  
With that said they each kissed Lily's cheek and dashed out the door to the library. It was a good thing Potions didn't start for another hour.  
  
~*~*~*Back With Lily*~*~*~*~  
  
Madame Pomfrey was checking on her newest patient. It seemed that a first year found it adventurous to take on the Whomping Willow Tree by himself.  
  
"Now I'm going to have to fix this bone. I'll be right back with the potion. Don't go anywhere." Madame Pomfrey said sternly.  
  
"Excuse me, Madame Pomfrey, but...is that Lily Evans?" the first year asked timidly.  
  
Madame Pomfrey turned around to look at what the boy was pointing to. She turned back to him and said, "Yes, that is her. Why do you ask?"  
  
He spoke with awe in his voice, "I've never seen her close up before. My brother, Fletcher, talks about her all the time. He says she's really nice."  
  
Madame Pomfrey smiled slightly at the boy. "Yes, well, anyway I'll be right back with the potion. Stay here." And then she walked off to get the medicine.  
  
In the next few minutes, something horrible happened that would be sure to stick in the little boy's head for the rest of his life. He was looking around the hospital wing and suddenly, he heard loud, fast beeping sounds. He turned to the source of the noise and found himself looking at the machine next to Lily's bed. He turned pale when heard the beeping speed up.  
  
"MADAME POMFREY! MADAME POMFREY! Something's wrong with LILY!!!" he screamed.  
  
In a split second, Madame Pomfrey was out of her office with a bottle in her hand. She took one look at Lily, dropped the bottle, and rushed forward to the bedside. She looked wildly around and then rested her eyes on the first year. "Mr. McDermott, run and find the Headmaster. And hurry!"  
  
The first year didn't need telling twice. He was out of the wing in a flash, leaving behind the worried nurse and the unconscious patient.  
  
~*~*In Lily's Mind~*~*  
  
Lily and James were walking hand in hand down a forest. It was a beautiful, sunny day. The two didn't have a care in the world. James looked quite handsome in a plain, white t-shirt and blue jean shorts. Lily looked as though she had stepped right out of a fairy tale. Her long red hair was trailing down her back, little braids here and there. She was wearing a white, lacey dress that came to her mid-calves. James had just picked some flowers and arranged them into a crown.  
  
He turned and placed it on her head while she giggled delightedly. He whispered to her, "My little princess."  
  
She smiled at him lovingly and took his hand once again. "My prince." She said softly.  
  
They walked around for a while until they came across a lake. She looked over at James, who was smiling mischievously. Knowing that smile all too well, she quirked an eyebrow and said, "What are you planning, James?"  
  
Without answering her, he just took her other hand and pulled her with them as they both fell in the lake. Screaming in surprise and delight, she splashed around with him.  
  
They continued this for a while. That was when Lily noticed a change in scenery. She was no longer in the forest, and James was no longer with her. Instead, she was facing a man that looked as though he were a snake in a human disguise. She also noticed that she had a wand in her hand.  
  
The snake-like man had just said a word and Lily fell to the ground in excruciating pain. He pulled his wand away from her and the pain was gone.  
  
"What do you want with me, Voldemort?" she asked, anger in her voice.  
  
"I want you dead." The man replied.  
  
"Why?" she asked.  
  
"A prophesy. One that I can terminate if I kill one of you seven." Voldemort said coldly.  
  
"You will never kill us. I'll make sure of that!" Lily shouted bravely.  
  
"You won't as long as I'm around." He said. Then he said a few more words and Lily suddenly felt very strange.  
  
She looked up to the clouds. It was lightning and raining, but in front of the storm, Lily could see pictures of all her past occurrences. The more recent ones, the memories from long ago. Each one was vanishing right in front of her. Vanishing right from her very mind.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Falling, falling, closer and closer to the green, green grass...Gone.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Music. A lovely tune her father always listened to...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
James' horrified face...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
The Quidditch game where no one was passing her the quaffle...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Talking to Dumbledore about a Prefects meetin...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"What, are you going to cry, Evans?" "MUDBLOOD! MUDBLOOD! MUDBLOOD!"...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Aw. I guess you're not so popular anymore, huh Evans." Cassandra said snottily...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Lily, we never want to talk to you again. You are no longer a fellow Marauder... or friend. Stay away from us."...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Don't pretend you don't know what we're talking about. We know it was you who told Malfoy about Remus' condition."...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"WHAT!? SNAPE 'FANCIES' LILY!?...Gone "  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Oh, like, great." She said, snottily, "It's, like, the ugly, mudblood Evans." "Glad to see your vocabulary has improved over the summer, Cassandra."...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Another good point. (laughs) I-I've GOT IT! 'I'll' do my 'own' homework for a month." Sirius replied...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Me?! I'm a prefect. I don't believe it." James exclaimed...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"I'm a PREFECT!" she exclaimed...Gone  
  
Faster and faster memories shown in the sky. Faster and faster the memories vanished from sky and mind. All second through forth year memories faded. First year memories came and gone.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Her birthday receiving her locket, her photo album, her quotes book, her Alice in Wonderland book. Going out to the lake for the whole day...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Her lavender with white trimmed room at the Potter manor...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Mr. and Mrs. Potter!" she exclaimed, running towards them...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Just remember, you're not alone." James said on the train...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"We all live on the same street, Lilz. We'll be seeing each other everyday." Sirius exclaimed...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"You've been such a good friend this year James. The best actually." She said as she kissed him on the cheek...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
The tears finally fell. She put her head in her hands and sobbed quietly. The four quickly gathered around her and comforted her. "I m-miss them so much."...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Lily, you can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of your loss, or you can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift you have- life itself." Remus told her...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Lily?" he asked softly. She let out another sob and said in a chocked voice, "They're gone, James. M-my parents are gone. They left me." He rushed over to her and sat next to her, engulfing her in a comforting hug...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Oh yeah, and we both think that we should become animagi." Sirius finished, nonchalantly...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"'One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.' She says that a lot also." Lily said...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Think of it this way, Remus." She reasoned, "You transform, what, once a month? And at that time, it's not really you anyway. And if it is, it's not as though you can help it." She shrugged, "It's not your fault. You didn't ask for this, did you?" He shook his head slowly. She snapped her fingers and shrugged again, rationalizing. "See? You didn't ask to be a werewolf; it's not your fault."...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"I know what you are, Remus."...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"I have an announcement to make. Lily Evans will 'not' be accepting any offers to the Christmas Ball. So STOP ASKING!!!"...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Wow! A ball!" Lily said, "I've never been to one before."...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Thanks for setting your 'protectors' on us, Evans. Just remember, you may not always have them around to stand up for you." Cassandra said, angrily...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"There is no way we could ever be mad at you, Flower." Sirius, Remus and Peter nodded in agreement.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Yeah Lils, your just like a sister to us." Sirius said, flinging an arm over her shoulder in an act of friendship.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"CONTRACTIOUNS INFINITE!" Immediately, everyone in the Great Hall stopped talking at once, seeing the Marauder's newest prank. Snape was no longer Snape. Snape was a fairy. Not a real fairy, mind you. He was dressed in a green pixie dress and even had little wings. He looked ready to kill when he realized what he was wearing. He opened his mouth to shout out something that would have made his mother die of shock, but all that came out of his mouth was nursery rhythms.  
  
"Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep and can't tell where to find them  
  
Leave them alone and they'll come home,  
  
Bringing their tails behind them"  
  
When he finished, he looked as sour as ever and his face was scarcely close to that of a tomato. Everyone, other than the Slytherians and some of the teachers (McGonagall and Graves 'the Potions master and head of Slytherian house'), were laughing good-naturedly. "Hey Mother Goose, try looking up your ass, maybe you'll find your sheep up there!" someone shouted out, earning a stern glare from McGonagall. "Love the look, Tinker Bell!" a girl from the Ravenclaw table shouted. "Always knew you were a fairy, Sarah! Oops I mean Snape!" a third year Gryffindor boy shouted after.  
  
Then, Malfoy stood up, indignant, though no one could really see him. He was about two feet tall and dressed in a leprechaun outfit. "Hey Darby O'Gill, where's your little people?!" another student shouted out. Another kid, he must have been a muggle-born because he knew the jingle, shouted out, "Heart, stars, horse-shoes, clovers, and blue moons," some more people gather in, "pots of gold, and rainbows, and the red balloons." Malfoy, like Snape, tried to shout out some bad words, but when he opened his mouth, he started to say in an Irish accent, much like the muggle commercial:  
  
"They're always after me Lucky Charms!"  
  
Most of the kids didn't understand what he meant by that, since they weren't muggle-born, but nonetheless they found it absolutely hilarious. After the laughter subsided, everyone turned their attention to Avery, who had yet to attempt to talk. He glared daggers at everyone, especially some Hufflepuff girls that shrieked quite loudly, "Like, oh my God, his hair is, like, so cuter than mine!" Another boy from the Ravenclaw table shouted, "Hey Barbie, look down to your right and you'll find your Ken!" (meaning Malfoy). Avery opened his mouth, forgetting what might happen if he did so, and he started to sing in a ditzy voice: "I'm a Barbie girl in a Barbie world  
  
Life in plastic, it's fantastic  
  
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere  
  
Imagination, life is your creation"  
  
Again, only the muggle-borns had ever heard of this so they were the ones laughing the loudest. Although, whether they knew the song or not, everyone else was laughing as hard as they could. You could hear the words "Queer." And "Cross dressers." among the crowd of people.  
  
To make matters worse (for the three Slytherians) letters, bright red and gold letters, spelling out the words 'Gryffindor's #1!'. While everyone was still distracted by the message, Lily and James slipped out of the curtains and snuck over to the Gryffindor table, where Sirius, Peter and Remus were laughing so hard, tears were coming out of their eyes. When Lily and James slipped into their seats, they immediately started talking to them, "Brilliant! Simply brilliant. Who, again, came up with this clever prank?" Sirius wheezed out...Gone  
  
They walked in silence, side by side, for a couple of minutes until Lily said, almost timidly, "James what's a mudblood?" James turned to look at her, fury in his eyes. "Where'd you hear that word?"...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
She snuggled up to him, feeling safe, "I really missed you James." she said quietly after a few moments of silence...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Cassandra laughed, cold and patronizingly, "No No No. I obviously gave you the wrong impression that I'd want to be friends with some ugly red-head like you." Cassandra's friends giggled and laughed at Lily...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
James heard an 'eek!' sound and in less than a second, all four of them, including Sirius appeared from behind the tree. Lily, Remus, and Peter just stared at Sirius opened mouth. Then in a split second, they were rolling on the grass howling with laughter. Sirius may have just been worse than James. The little ballerina that stood before them was wearing a scowl... along with a 'pink' tutu with 'pink' tights and 'pink' bows in it's hair, which was in two matching pigtails! The ballerina... a.k.a Sirius... just stood there and waited for the other three to calm down...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Lily rolled her eyes, then an idea formed in her mind, "James, if you don't turn around right now, I'm afraid I may 'accidently' let a certain secret slipped that I'm 'positive' you've never told anyone else." then she leaned up again his shoulder and whispered in his ear, "James 'Clarence' Potter..." James panicked and turned around.  
  
"You wouldn't dare!" he said, but his words fell on deaf ears because the moment he turned around, Lily, Remus, and Peter were all doubled up with laughter. And who wouldn't? James looked absolutely hilarious! A lavender, fluffy bunny with glasses! That's what the three saw when he turned. He had the ears and buck teeth and everything.  
  
"J-James! Y-you l-ook like t-the... Easter Bunny!!!" Lily managed to sputter out...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Malfoy acually 'punched' you! Oh, I am going to kick his a-" James started to shout.  
  
"James, it's fine. I'm perfectly alright." Lily interupted him...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"'You' came up with 'the' look!"...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"James?/Lily?" they both said in unison.  
  
Remus and Sirius exchanged confused glances with each other. Then looked back at the two when Lily had jumped up off her seat and the two hugged each other, looking terrified the other one would disappear...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"MELLY!" Lily jumped up a hugged her old neighbor. Melanie laughed at Lily's sudden outburst...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Sooo. You all know each other. What are your names?"  
  
"Oh yeah. Sorry about that. My name is Remus Lupin, he's Peter Pettigrew. That there is Sirius Black and he's James Potter."  
  
'James Potter? James... Potter?... why does that sound so familiar?'  
  
"What's your name?" James asked. James also thought she looked really familiar. 'Red-hair, green eyes... red-hair, green eyes...'  
  
"Hmmm? Oh I'm sorry. I'm so rude. I'm Lily. Lily Evans." 'Lily Evans. It sounds so familiar. Where have I seen her before?'...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
The boy continued to glare at her, not saying anything. Lily continued to look at him. He looked so familiar to her, but she couldn't place where she had seen him before. The boy had greasy hair, with a hooked nose and very black eyes. Her eyes widened in surprise. 'Greasy hair...' She suddenly laughed, disbelievingly.  
  
"Snape!" she said, rudely. She hadn't seen Severus Snape in 3 years, since she moved. He had still been as dumb as ever when she left. Now three years later, she realized he hadn't changed a bit from the first time she met him, when she walked up to her and started to pick on her. "Evan?" he said angrily. He glared, if possible, harder at her. She had stopped laughing by now. She had raised one of her eyebrows, smirked slightly and said, "Well well well. Severus Snape. Long time no see, eh?"  
  
"Too bad it didn't last to long, mudblood." he growled.  
  
She glared at him, "Trust me, Snape. The feeling is more than mutual."...Gone  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
The first time she met Mr. Potter. The first time she met Mrs. Potter. The first time she met Melanie when she babysat her...The first time she met James. All these memories were slipping out of her grasp and she couldn't do anything about it. She went through all her memories of her babyhood. Her parents brought her home from the hospital and she met her sister Petunia for the first time. The first time her father held her. The first time her mother held her. All her memories of her mother and father slipped away.  
  
Then...her identity slipped away and she was left in darkness.  
  
A snake-like man she didn't know was standing in front of her with what appeared to be a stick in his hand. She just looked at him confused. Then, he raised his wand and said two words she's never heard of before.  
  
"Adava Kadavera!" She felt pain for about a split-second. Then all she saw was light.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N- Ok, that chapter was extremely sad. Don't worry, Lily doesn't die. Well, I guess all there is left to say is review.  
  
*"Lily." A soft voice echoed. "Mum?"  
  
*"Headmaster! It's Lily!"  
  
*"James? Something wrong?" "No, I just have this feeling."  
  
*"S-she's dead."  
  
*"It's not your time yet."  
  
*"I-I don't understand Dad."  
  
*"I'd better go find Mr. Potter and his friends"  
  
*"Wait a minute. What is going on?"  
  
*"I'm sorry, boys." "No"  
  
*"S-she's stable. But...that's impossible."  
  
*"Poppy, are you alright?" "I believe, she's back." 


	22. Death

Recap of Last chapter:  
  
A snake-like man she didn't know was standing in front of her with what appeared to be a stick in his hand. She just looked at him confused. Then, he raised his wand and said two words she's never heard of before.  
  
"Adava Kadavera!" She felt pain for about a split-second. Then all she saw was light.  
  
~*~*~In Lily's Mind*~*~  
  
Green light at first was all around her. Then, the next moment, she felt completely peaceful. She saw white light all around her. Immediately, her memories seemed to come back to her.  
  
"Lily." A soft voice echoed. Lily looked around for the source of the word. She recognized it. Looking up, she saw something that almost made her collapse from relief.  
  
"Mum?" She said breathlessly. "Mummy, is that you? Dad?"  
  
Her mother and father were both floating there, looking happy and at peace.  
  
"Yes, Lily. It is us." Her father said softly. Lily let out a sound that was a half sob/ half laugh. She jumped a little in happiness.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
The little first year boy was running all around the halls of the castle. He had no clue where Dumbledore's office was! He still couldn't believe it. That beeping noise would be sure to haunt him for the rest of his life. He never saw anyone up close before that may be dying.  
  
Just then, he could have passed out with relief. A few feet in front of him, Dumbledore walked at a leisurely pace. He picked up pace and in a few seconds he was at the Headmaster's side, pulling on his arm.  
  
"Headmaster! Come quick! It's Lily! Lily Evans! Something's wrong with her" he explained quickly. Dumbledore's eyes widened in worry and he said, "Mr. McDermott, go back to your common room. Everything will be alright. Thank you for telling me." And with that, Dumbledore turned around and rushed down the hall as quick as he could without actually running.  
  
The little boy just stared at where Dumbledore was a few moments ago. Without another word, he turned and headed to the Ravenclaw common room.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
The Marauders were all still in, surprise surprise, the library along with a lot of other fifth years that decided to catch up on some undone homework before their next class started. They four all shared a table, oblivious to lustful glances thrown there way by a group of Hufflepuff fifth years at the table next to there's. James and Sirius were on one side with Remus and Peter on the other. James, Sirius and Peter were still working furiously on their Transfiguration essay while Remus had a rather large pile of books in front of him, trying, in vain, to read them all before Potions.  
  
James just finished a paragraph on his parchment. He started on the next. In mid-word, he stopped. His brows furrowed and he lowered his quill. Something wasn't right. He had this weird feeling in his stomach. Maybe he forgot to do something. Maybe it was about the prank they were going to pull tonight on the Slytherians. He just couldn't get rid of the feeling.  
  
Remus noticed his friend's abrupt stop. Looking up from his book, he glanced questioningly over at James. James just stared down at his essay, eyes not moving or blinking, quill still in his hand.  
  
Remus lowered his head to try to meet James' eye. When that didn't work, with his head still lowered, he asked concernedly, "James? Something wrong?"  
  
James snapped his head up so quick Remus was thinking he might have whiplash. "I'm sorry, Remus, what did you say?" he questioned.  
  
"I just asked if anything was wrong. You looked worried about something." Remus replied. Sirius and Peter looked up from what they were doing, now.  
  
"No, I just have this feeling." James said simply.  
  
Sirius raised his eyebrows and asked, "A feeling? What do you mean?"  
  
"I dunno. Something just doesn't feel right." James answered, sounding perplexed, "Did we forget to do something? Other than the Transfiguration homework, I mean."  
  
Peter shook his head, "I don't think we did."  
  
James made a 'hmm' noise. Then, his expression changed to a look of indifference and he said, "Oh well. It's probably nothing. Come on, we should finish up. Potions starts in about twenty minutes."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Dumbledore burst into the hospital wing. What he saw before him was Madame Pomfrey frantically working on Lily to get her to respond to anything. He also noticed the noise in the large room. Beeping sounds from Lily's monitor seemed to be getting faster and faster. Dumbledore rushed to Madame Pomfrey's aid.  
  
"What happened?" Dumbledore demanded while he stirred a potion Pomfrey shoved in his hands.  
  
The nurse shook her head and said, "I don't know. One minute I was getting a potion out of my office to fix Mr. McDermott's arm, and the next, he was shouting to me that something was wrong with Lily. When I got out here, her heart monitor seemed to be going haywire. Her heart is speeding up alarmingly fast. At this rate, she could..." she trailed off when she heard the machine beside her go into a steady 'beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep'.  
  
The color drained from her face and she looked Dumbledore right in the eye. Dumbledore's eyes widened; all sparkle lost in them. He knew what she was about to say. It simply broke his heart.  
  
"S-she's dead." The nurse said in a shaky voice. Tears started to form in her eyes. "Miss Evans...is dead."  
  
Dumbledore declined his head and closed his eyes painfully.  
  
~*~*~In Lily's Mind~*~*~  
  
"I can't believe it. It's really you! Mummy, daddy!" Lily exclaimed, tears of happiness streaming down her face.  
  
Her parents smiled at her.  
  
Lily stopped jumping up and down and said suddenly, "Am I in heaven?"  
  
"Sweetie, no you're not in heaven." Her mother said gently yet sadly.  
  
"Lily, flower, listen to us. It's not your time yet, princess." Her father said.  
  
She looked up, startled.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
The silence in the hospital wing was horrible. Both the Headmaster and the nurse stared at the lifeless body before them. How could this have happened? She was stable, she was almost fine. There wasn't a chance of her to die anymore. So what went wrong? There wasn't any sign of something wrong with her. All that happened was her heart sped up and then...she was gone. It didn't make any sense. What...went...wrong?  
  
Lily's lifeless body burned in Dumbledore's mind. Looking up from her, he glanced at the horrified nurse and said, "I'd better go find Mr. Potter and his friends"  
  
Madame Pomfrey looked up at him, one lone tear making its way down her cheek and she nodded slightly.  
  
Dumbledore turned and walked out the door in search of Lily's closest friends.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
This couldn't be happening. More tears started to form in her eyes. She wasn't going to be with her mother and father? "What?" she asked in a shaky voice, "But, I wanna be with you. I really miss you two. Nobody back on earth misses me. It won't be such a terrible loss to them. Really it won't." She pleaded.  
  
"Listen sweetheart, other's back on earth, they do miss you. Your friends, James, he very much misses you. Trust us, pumpkin. You are not alone in that world. I know Petunia and the rest of your family may not care all that much about you, but the others 'do'. They need you, Lily." Her mother said gently.  
  
Tears were now streaming down her face. She just couldn't believe it. Making a last attempt to reason with them, she said, "But, Voldemort used the killing curse on me. I 'must' be dead."  
  
Her father shook his head, "Lily, dead, you'll understand everything one day. For now, though, they need you back on earth. You have a prophesy to fulfill."  
  
Lily's brows furrowed, "I-I don't understand Dad. What prophesy?"  
  
"You'll know everything one day." Her father answered vaguely. "Now, it is time to say good-bye Lily, my precious flower."  
  
Lily let out a sob and she raised her hand to her father's. She looked at him right in the eye and said, "I love you dad."  
  
"I love you too, princess." He replied.  
  
Lily looked at her mother, who was smiling gently, "I love you, mum."  
  
"As do I, sweetie." She replied as she took two of her fingers, kissed them, and reached out to touch Lily's wet, tearstained cheek.  
  
Then next moment, the light faded and Lily was lost in blackness.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Never had a student died in the presence of her before. There was never a time when anything 'really' life threatening happened at this school. This was the first and most terrible experience for Madame Pomfrey.  
  
Letting all her emotions overwhelm her, she sank into the chair next to Lily's bed. She closed her eyes painfully and took in a deep, shaky breath. She'd have to fill out a death certificate. That horrifying thought entered the young nurse's head. She'd have to owl her family and tell them.  
  
"Thank goodness Albus is telling her friends. I don't think I could do that' she thought to herself.  
  
Sighing and standing up, Madame Pomfrey walked slowly back to her office to start writing the death certificate.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
As Lily was surrounded in darkness, she started to feel a bit odd again. Just like a few minutes ago when Voldemort took her memory. Slowly, it started to happen again.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
In her office, the nurse had just taken out a quill and ink. Setting the simple, blank certificate on her desk, she reached over with the quill and dabbed it into the ink. She started to write 'Lily' on the parchment. She stopped in mid-word as she heard something surprising outside her office.  
  
'Beep beep beep beep beep beep...'  
  
Rushing out of her office, she let out a shaky gasp. "Wait a minute. What is going on?" she mumbled incredulously as she hurried over to Lily's heart monitor that made the noise. Blood drained from her face once again. 'It's not possible' she thought to herself.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Dumbledore walked swiftly down one of the halls. The pain inside him was unbearable. Never before had a student died in his command over Hogwarts. Never. And this part he had to do now was the worst.  
  
Walking up to the Potions door, he knocked twice and entered.  
  
The Potions professor stopped in mid-word when he saw Dumbledore enter his office. Managing a forced smile that looked more like a scowl, the Professor asked, "What can I do for you, Dumbledore?"  
  
Dumbledore smiled weakly in return and glanced around the room, spotting the marauders not to far away whispering to themselves and writing on a piece of parchment. They looked so happy and carefree. Turning his attention back to the waiting professor, Dumbledore said in a grave voice, "I'm afraid I'll need to take Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, and Mr. Pettigrew away from you for the rest of class."  
  
The professor had a sour look on his face as the surprised four walked out the room with the Headmaster. James looked curiously over at the Headmaster. He got another one of those feelings in his stomach. Something bad must have happened.  
  
"Professor, is anything wrong?" Sirius asked confused. They hadn't pulled a prank in a few days. Surely they couldn't be getting punished.  
  
Dumbledore stopped walking right in the middle of the hall and looked at them all full in the face. It was now of never. "Boys, I'm afraid I have some horrible news."  
  
Color quickly drained from their faces. "W-what is it, Headmaster?" Remus asked shakily.  
  
'It's about Lily.' James realized suddenly, 'It has to be about Lily. Dumbledore would not have taken us from class if it didn't concern Lily.'  
  
"It's Miss Evans, boys." Dumbledore said, to the surprise of the other three minus James, shakily, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but...Lily has passed away. I'm sorry boys." He repeated.  
  
James felt as though the world had suddenly ended. His knees buckled and he grabbed the wall for support. "No." he whispered, then he started to breathe raggedly. Sirius looked as though he were in shock. He just stared at the Headmaster with wide, unconvinced eyes. Remus had tears in his eyes and his face had gone even paler than before. Peter was slowly shaking his head, tears forming in his eyes as well.  
  
"T-that can't be true, sir" Sirius said, his voice quivering. "S-she was fine when we left her this morning. IT'S NOT TRUE! SHE CAN'T BE DEAD!" he said the last part shouting. A tear made its way down his cheek as he started to breathe heavily.  
  
James started to cry silently. Leaning further against the wall, he sand onto the ground. His legs wouldn't hold him anymore. He put his head in his hands. 'No, no, no. Not Lily. Not my best friend Lily. Not the Lily that used to help me read. The Lily that was always kind to anyone, enemy or friend. She can't be dead!'  
  
Remus was pacing back and forth, tears freely falling down his face. He kept running a hand through his hair. He kept repeating, "Oh no. Oh please god, no. Not Lily." over and over again.  
  
Peter was opening and closing his mouth over and over. He was wringing his hands uncomfortably.  
  
Dumbledore just stared at the floor, a lone tear falling from his eye. "I'm so sorry." He whispered.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Madame Pomfrey had just checked over Lily. When she just finished, she was pale. "S-she's stable. But...that's impossible." 'But...but it's happening. Right here in front of me. It's a miracle.'  
  
Madame Pomfrey, for the second time that day, sank into the chair beside Lily's bed. This time though, not out of grief and sorrow, but out of surprise and relief. She looked at Lily disbelievingly. She shook her head and whispered, "What is going on with you, child?"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
It had been ten minutes before anyone had said anything. They were still out in the hall; James and Sirius were sitting side by side on the ground. Remus was still pacing and Peter was looking at them all, wide eyed. Dumbledore just stood there, not staring at anything in particular.  
  
Finally, Dumbledore broke the silence and said to them, "Come with me." And he lead them to the hospital wing to say their last good-byes.  
  
When they got there, Madame Pomfrey opened the door and looked as though she was just about to head out and look for someone. Her hair was frazzled and her eyes were wild with wonder. Dumbledore stared at her in concern.  
  
"Poppy, are you alright?" he asked gently. The marauders were all behind him, not paying close attention. "Did something happen?"  
  
"I believe she's back." Pomfrey said breathlessly.  
  
Dumbledore's eyed widened and he said, "What did you say? What do you mean?"  
  
"Lily." The boys' heads snapped up, "Lily is alive, Albus. I don't know how. But, she's alive."  
  
"But, that's impossible. We saw her die. We were right there. Are you sure, Poppy?" he replied half skeptical, half hopeful.  
  
"Come and see for yourself. She's still unconscious, but she's breathing and her heart monitor indicates she's fine." The nurse answered, beckoning them in. James and the others looked at each other disbelievingly. Then, without a word, they sped past the headmaster and nurse and raced to Lily's bedside, where they heard the beeping noises. James sank into the seat beside the bed in absolute surprise.  
  
"She's really alive." He breathed out as Sirius sat in the chair next to his, his expression the same as James'. Peter sat on the bed next to hers, looking like he'd seen a ghost.  
  
"How is this possible?" Remus asked the nurse weakly.  
  
The nurse shook her head in confusion, "I don't know. All I know is that one minute, she was legally dead, the next her heart starts beating and she's stable. I believe it is a miracle."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey were inside her office, talking. The marauders surrounded Lily's bed, weak with relief.  
  
"Can't believe we almost lost her." James mumbled.  
  
"I thought I was dying as well when Dumbledore told us. It was like my heart was ripped out of me." Sirius said.  
  
At that moment, Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey walked out of her office. The boys all looked up at them curiously.  
  
Dumbledore walked straight up to them and said gently, "Boys, Madame Pomfrey and I just finished talking with Dr. Jonahs, the head healer at St. Mungos Hospital. We're going to transfer her over there. We think maybe they'll take better care of her there."  
  
James looked as though he's birthday had just been cancelled. "She's going to be leaving? When?"  
  
"As soon as you boys say goodbye to her. We're going to use a portkey to get her there. So whenever you're ready." Dumbledore answered.  
  
"How long will she be gone?" Peter asked.  
  
"I don't know. How ever long it takes to wake her up. It could be weeks, months, and boys not to startle you, but it may even take years." Dumbledore said gravely.  
  
"So, we almost lost her once today, and your saying we're losing her again?!" Sirius asked incredulously.  
  
"It is the only way to help Miss Evens get better." Madame Pomfrey insisted.  
  
"They have better equipment there. Maybe this is just what she needs to get better. We'll give you a few minutes" Dumbledore said as he started to walk out with the nurse.  
  
"So, who wants to go first?" Remus asked weakly.  
  
When no one volunteered, Peter spoke up and said, "I will." The others nodded and they left the room.  
  
Five minutes later, Peter walked out and Remus walked in. It took a little longer, so about 15 minutes later, a tearstained Remus emerged. Sirius was next. About twenty minutes later, he came out, sniffing back tears.  
  
"Your turn James." He said quietly. James nodded and walked in.  
  
"Hey, flower." He said softly, taking her small delicate hand in his. Already tears were forming in his eyes by just feeling her hand in his.  
  
"I'm going to make this goodbye short. It might be less painful that way." He said, "I'm sorry all this happened, Lils. No one deserves this, especially you." He paused and then said, "But, you're going someplace where you might get better. You 'will' get better Lily. You're a fighter, and one day, you 'will' wake up.  
  
"I can't believe that you won't be here anymore. I mean, before at least we could see you and talk to you even though you wouldn't answer back." He paused again, "Now, though, we can't even do that. Oh, Lils, if I could just take you away and escape this place, I would in a heartbeat. But something Dumbledore said was true. Maybe this 'is' just what you need to feel better.  
  
"I wish we could go back in time to when we were three. Everything was so simple then. I could protect you better then. You're my best friend Lily. And, whether you can here me or not, wherever you go, always remember that. You will always stay in my heart...I love you Lily. I don't mean a friendship love. I love you more than life itself. I know I should have told you a long time ago, but I was afraid. Afraid you wouldn't like me the same way. And now-," he broke off as his voice cracked and a tear fell from his eyes. He continued on with a quivering voice, "now I may never get to tell you. Merlin Lily, I hope you can here me. Because, I'm not afraid anymore. I'm not afraid you won't love me back. All I want if for you to be okay and to know that I love you. To know that there will always be someone on this planet who loves you."  
  
And with that said, James bent down and kissed her softly on the lips. Since his eyes were closed, he didn't notice a change in Lily. When he pulled back, he squeezed her hand gently and released it. He got up and as he was walking towards the door, he whispered, "Bye, Flower."  
  
He didn't notice that the hand he was holding seconds before, twitch slightly.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N- *sighs* well that chapter was just sad. I'm sorry for dragging this Lily in a coma for so long. Well, anyway, as you probably guessed, the next chapter will be a pretty good one. (Hint: Lily wakes up). Oh, and one more thing. I'm wondering if anyone has noticed any clues throughout the last few chapters. If you've read another story of mine, you should kind of understand something. For now, all I have to say is thanks for reviewing.  
  
*She heard a moan behind her.  
  
*"Ok...who are you?"  
  
*The sparkle in her eyes was gone.  
  
*"Contact St. Mungos."  
  
*"I'll do find Mr. Potter and the rest again."  
  
*"Hey, Lils. You kept us pretty worried for a while."  
  
*She smiled at them, looking confused, "Ok, so I have...four boyfriends?"  
  
*"Ok, I think we're just confusing her more."  
  
*"Get some rest."  
  
A pretty vague preview. Sorry about that. 


	23. Confusion

After James finished his goodbye with Lily, he slowly made his way to the door. He opened it and walked out. Then, he stopped and turned to look at it. Reluctantly, he reached out his hand and grasped the handle to pull it shut. This was it. When he shut the door, it made it official. Lily really was leaving. Maintaining all his willpower, he shut it firmly. Sighing, he turned and exchanged glances with his solemn friends.  
  
He wiped his tear streaked face and coughed. He broke the silence by saying quietly, "Let's go down to dinner." No body said anything, they just nodded in reply.  
  
As they walked down the halls, most students they passed greeted them enthusiastically. They managed small smiles in return and occasionally forced out a small 'hi'.  
  
When they reached the Great Hall, they sat and dragged food onto their plates. Peter and Sirius started to eat quietly while James and Remus just stared at their plates. They couldn't bring themselves to eat. Many Gryffindors gave them confused looks, but they ignored them.  
  
After a while of silence, James decided he had to do something. He couldn't just sit there and try to eat when he knew he had no appetite.  
  
"Hey, Remus, is Lily back yet with your paper?" James questioned dully.  
  
Remus looked up and was about to reply when something else replied for him. Their owl, Lily, came swooping down unexpectedly and dropped an issue of the Daily Prophet in front of Remus.  
  
"Guess so." Remus replied just as dully.  
  
James nodded and got up. Lily perched herself atop his shoulder. "I'm going to send an owl to my parents. They should probably know Lily's going to be moved to St. Mungos." The other three nodded and James walked out the Great Hall.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Madame Pomfrey and Dumbledore were preparing to take Lily to St. Mungos. Dumbledore just left for a moment to get a portkey. It was a little hectic. They wanted to get her there as soon as they could. After being officially dead for approximately five minutes and suddenly coming back to life, Lily could loose stability any minute.  
  
While all this was going on, Lily was inconspicuously doing a lot more than she had done in the past five months. Her hand had twitched slightly and her eyes flickered. Right at this moment, she was doing the same amount of movements that a sleeping person would be doing.  
  
It was like a butterfly coming out of its cocoon; only Lily was coming out of her coma. Her hand twitched again. Then, her left foot moved slightly. Her chest rose higher as she took in her first deep breath since the accident. Her lips parted a little.  
  
Madame Pomfrey had her back to the waking beauty while she folded up some blankets as she waited for the Headmaster to return. Humming a little to herself, all movements of the formally unconscious girl went unnoticed. That changed when she heard a moan behind her. The nurse moved her eyes around the room. No one else was in there other than her and Lily. Shrugging her shoulders, she turned back around suspiciously and went back to her blankets  
  
Another moan was heard. This time, Madame Pomfrey recognized it and her eyes widened. 'It couldn't be.' She thought. But it was. She turned and walked over to Lily's bedside and stared down at her. She jumped about a foot in the air when she saw Lily's right hand move. 'Good gracious! She's waking!' And at that moment, Lily's eyes opened for the first time in quite a while. Madame Pomfrey was changing her expressions from smiling one second to opening her mouth then shut it quickly, refraining herself from talking. She kept repeating this over and over as Lily blinked a couple times to focus her eyes.  
  
Lily turned her head slowly and looked right at the nurse. Just at that moment, the doors opened and Dumbledore strode in, not noticing the major difference in Lily. He spotted Madame Pomfrey and said as he walked over, "I've just created a portkey." He held up an old rubber shoe, "Come, we must go quickly. The sooner we get her there, the better it is."  
  
"Albus." Pomfrey said slowly.  
  
Dumbledore stopped talking and looked at her expectantly. The nurse simply pointed her finger down at Lily. Dumbledore followed her movement. When he saw the reason of that action, he did a double take. Lily was staring at him intently. He blinked twice to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him and let out a gasp.  
  
"Contact St. Mungos. Tell them we are keeping Lily here for now." he mumbled quietly to Madame Pomfrey. She nodded, still looking at Lily, and rushed off.  
  
"Miss Evans, I must say it is quite a relief to see you awake again. I daresay I was worried we wouldn't see you here for a 'long' time. Your friends are all very worried about you." Dumbledore said happily.  
  
"Ok..." she said slowly and looking very confused. Then she added timidly, "Who are you?" The nurse came back just in time to catch the question.  
  
Madame Pomfrey and Dumbledore widened their eyes. They looked at each other with worried expressions etched on their faces. "Oh dear." Madame Pomfrey mumbled.  
  
Dumbledore looked back at Lily and said, "You don't know who I am?"  
  
Lily shook her head slowly, "Should I?" she asked, sounding scared.  
  
Dumbledore looked intently at her as though he was seeing her for the first time. He sighed sadly. The sparkle in her eyes was gone. "Do you know who 'you' are?" he asked, not answering her question.  
  
Lily bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes. She shook her head again slowly. "Do you know who I am?" she asked hopefully.  
  
Dumbledore nodded and said, "Yes. Your name is Lily Evans. You are a student here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am the headmaster at this school. My name is Albus Dumbledore." Then he indicated Madame Pomfrey and said, "She here is Madame Pomfrey, the school nurse."  
  
Lily's dull eyes widened, "I'm a witch?"  
  
"Yes, and a good one at that, Lily." Dumbledore replied seriously.  
  
Lily swallowed harshly and asked, glancing at her surroundings, "Why am I in here? The hospital, I mean. This is a hospital, right?" Dumbledore nodded.  
  
"I think I should leave telling you that to four others." He answered vaguely. He then turned to Madame Pomfrey, who was at the end of the bed listening, and said, "I'll find Mr. Potter and the rest again." She nodded and he got up and left.  
  
The nurse looked over at Lily and immediately sprang up and ran into her office. A minute later, she returned with some bottles of potion and medicine.  
  
"I'm sure your many admirers and boyfriends will be glad to know you're finally awake." the nurse teased. She especially meant the Marauders.  
  
Lily's brows furrowed in confusion. 'My boyfriends? I wonder if they are whom that man was going to get.'  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Out in the hall, Dumbledore was smiling despite himself. Memory or no memory, Lily was awake. It was amazing to know that just two hours ago, Lily was in danger of seriously leaving this beautiful earth. Now, she wasn't only stable, she was awake. Seriously, she was 'awake'. No one could talk about Lily in a past tense anymore. In just a couple of days, she will most likely be returning to class with her fellow students. She will return to her position as a prefect and they wouldn't have to have only one Gryffindor prefect.  
  
Yet, there was something that wouldn't be all peaches and cream. OWLs were coming up in a few short months. And Lily hadn't done a single spell since October.  
  
Dumbledore was jerked out of his thoughts when he ran straight into something, or should I say, 'someone'.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry Headmaster." James said as he pushed himself off the ground.  
  
"Quite alright, Mr. Potter, quite alright." Dumbledore said jollily. He too pushed himself off the ground and dusted his robes off.  
  
James just stared at him. 'Why is he so happy? Doesn't he feel bad 'at all' that Lily won't be here anymore?' James thought bitterly.  
  
When Dumbledore's full attention was on James, he smiled with his eyes twinkling. This just confused James even more. "Actually, James, I was just on my way to see you and the three others. Do you know where they are?"  
  
James nodded mutely and led him into the Great Hall where Remus, Sirius, and Peter were all still picking at their food. When they reached the three, the boys looked up in surprise.  
  
"Hello Headmaster." Remus said tonelessly.  
  
"Hello boys. I was wondering if I could have a moment of your time." He replied mysteriously. They nodded and followed Dumbledore. He led them to the Infirmary once again. They didn't ask why they were there or anything. They really didn't care. Surely, by now, Lily would already have been sent to St. Mungos.  
  
Curiosity got the better of Sirius and he asked as they entered the room, "Why are we here, Headmaster?"  
  
Dumbledore replied, "I think there is something you need and want to see, Mr. Black." And then he nodded his head towards Lily's bed. It was empty. James felt his heart sink when he saw it. She really was gone. By the looks on the other faces, Remus, Sirius, and Peter all felt the same way.  
  
James looked back at the Headmaster and said, his voice breaking slightly, "So, what? It's just an empty bed. We know Lily's gone."  
  
Dumbledore let out a slight chuckle and said, "That is where you are wrong, Mr. Potter." He would have said more, but he was but off by a bathroom door opening at the other end of the Infirmary. They all turned their heads to look at who had entered.  
  
"I will be in my office now." Dumbledore said quietly as he started to leave.  
  
James felt his eyes water up. 'It couldn't be...' But it was. Sirius' jaw dropped in disbelief and Remus sank into a chair. There was Lily. Walking around. Slowly, sure, but walking nonetheless. She was wrapped in a white cotton robe and her hair was no longer hanging limp, but shining and falling down her shoulders and back in cascades of red curls. Her eyes were the same brilliant green, but there was something different about them. She skin was no longer so pale like the dead. Her cheeks had a tinge of pink.  
  
She looked over at them as she walked over to her bed and smiled slightly, even a little unsurely. 'Probably thinks we're still mad at her.' James thought to himself, feeling an immense amount of guilt weighing on his chest. No body said anything. It was quiet in the large room. The only sounds heard by anyone was Lily's bare feet tapping on the hard floor as she slowly made her way towards her bed. Lily soon looked at the ground instead of their surprised eyes. She felt a blush creep up onto her face as she realized they were all staring at her, unmoving.  
  
Then, the almost silence was interrupted by the sound of Peter fainting suddenly. The others seemed not to notice as they just kept staring. Lily's head, though, jerked up when she heard the rather large 'boom!' Her eyes widened in worry when she saw a plump boy lying on the ground, eyes closed.  
  
"Is he alright?" she asked, her soft voice filled with worry. It was like music to James' ears. The voice he had waited to long to hear again. Sirius, James, and Remus were dragged out of their thoughts when she spoke. They finally understood what she was asking and they all turned to pick up Peter and pulled him onto the bed next to Lily's. When they finished, they turned and looked back at Lily with awe in their eyes.  
  
Lily squirmed under their gaze and after a minute, she asked timidly, "Wh- what?" She climbed back into her bed.  
  
Remus shook his head to clear his thoughts. His face broke out into a wide, wide grin and he said, "Hey, Lils. You kept us pretty worried for a while."  
  
Lily smiled at him, looking lost. Still grinning, she asked simply, "Huh?"  
  
"You were out of it for five months, Lily. It killed us to see you like that." Sirius replied, not noticing the completely baffled look on Lily's face. 'Who are these guys?'  
  
"Five months?.....W-what happened to me?" Lily asked with interest. Then, she asked with her head quirked to the side, "I don't mean to be rude. Um...who are you?"  
  
The three exchanged worried looks. James looked intently on Lily, studying her face. When he reached her beautiful eyes, he immediately realized what was different about them. They used to sparkle. That was long gone and now her eyes were left with a dull, empty look to them. When her memory had gone, her sparkle and aliveness in her eyes had left as well. "Y-you don't know us?" James asked slowly.  
  
Lily smiled brightly. She shook her head to answer their question. "Nope."  
  
"Do you know who you are?" James asked.  
  
"Oh, yes. That man with the long beard...was it Dumbledore...yes, he told me my name was Lily Evans. And he also said I was a witch." She answered with a happy, carefree attitude.  
  
They nodded solemnly and Remus said, "So, you don't remember what happened of why you're here."  
  
Lily nodded and said, "That's right. What are your names, anyway?"  
  
Sirius decided to re-introduce them to her, "Well, My name is Sirius. This here is James. He is Remus. And the one on the bed is Peter. We're all very close to you." He added, unintentionally messing her up more.  
  
She smiled at them, looking confused, "Ok, so I have...four boyfriends?" she asked, freaking them all out. Peter, who just woke up in time to witness this rather humorous scene, squeaked in terror.  
  
Sirius and Remus both paled considerably while James blushed. They all looked horrified at what she just said. Sirius laughed uncomfortably and said, "Oh, no, no, no, no. Haha, you see, uh, we're not dating. I mean, no offence, you're a real knock out... I mean, you're 'really' hot..." he looked terrified at what he was saying, but nonetheless, kept going, seeming unable to stop, "I mean, if you were really any other girl and you still looked that way...I defiantly would-," a sharp, warning cough from Remus stopped him from babbling like an idiot. Lily's eyebrow quirked up and she just stared at them intently.  
  
"Ok, I think we're just confusing her more. What he means is, er, w-we're not dating. We are just really close. 'Not' that way." Remus added quickly and uncomfortably.  
  
Lily nodded in understanding. But still, she took things the wrong way and then said assumingly to James, "So, 'we' are dating?"  
  
James turned even brighter red and started to almost hyperventilate. "Uh, uh, uh, n-no. We-we aren't dating. Um, y-your just my best friend."  
  
"How come you think one of us are your boyfriends?" Remus asked, still feeling a little weird at the thought of going out with Lily. Now, there was nothing wrong with Lily. She was, as Sirius said, very pretty. She was the hottest girl at Hogwarts. Everyone knew that, even the Marauders. It's just, except for James, they all thought of her as a sister and nothing more. James lost his nerve at the last moment and decided not to tell her of his feelings for her.  
  
Lily answered innocently by saying, "Well, Madame Pomfrey...is that her name...yes, she said that all my boyfriends and admirers would be happy I'm awake and everything. I thought she assumed you boys." They nodded in understanding. She went on, "So, if you aren't my boyfriend, who is?"  
  
"Oh, you don't have one. I think Madame Pomfrey was just kidding. You see, in this school, you've got to be like one of the most sought after girls. You've got so many admirers here, it's amazing." Peter said, speaking for the first time. Lily nodded in understanding this time.  
  
"Well, could you please tell me how, why, and how long I've been here?" she asked politely.  
  
The four of them immediately launched into the long story. About thirty minutes later, they had finally finished and Lily was looking pale and overwhelmed. All she could muster up was a small, surprised, "Oh!"  
  
James sighed and said, "You look exhausted. Get some rest. We'll stop by first thing tomorrow." He got up with the rest of them. Lily nodded at them, shaking a little. James noticed this and immediately grabbed her hand. She looked up at him with a look of wonder in her eyes. He squeezed her hand then did something for the second time that day that, a couple of weeks ago, he wouldn't have considered doing. He kissed her. Only, this time it was just on the cheek. He silently berated himself after that. 'You coward. Some Gryffindor you are, James. What happened to 'I'm not afraid anymore. I love you and I want you to know it'?  
  
James walked out of the hospital with the rest of his friends. Lily was left to her own thoughts. The first thing she thought when they left was, 'Somehow, for some reason I don't really know, I think I love him.'  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N- Hello all! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while. My computer was being stupid and it wouldn't let me on the Internet. Please forgive me and review. I hope you all liked this chapter. Also, to 'h-ermione-g-ranger'- thank you 'so' much for reviewing. I'm so happy I had an influence on you. I really look forward to reading some of your stories!  
  
*She decided to explore some of the school. 'After all, it can't be 'that' big. I'm sure I won't get lost'.  
  
*To her surprise, the staircase started to move.  
  
*"Good gracious!" Lily turned and immediately put a hand up to her mouth to stifle a scream.  
  
*No one but the nurse, the Marauders, and Dumbledore knew about Lily.  
  
*The portrait opened and a whole bunch of little things she didn't recognize came out meekly.  
  
*"Would Miss like something to eat?" one of them asked.  
  
*She turned around, and let out another gasp of fright.  
  
*This place was absolutely amazing.  
  
*She didn't realize he directed her into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.  
  
*Lily looked up and was amazed by the scene she saw. It was like there was no roof in the hall.  
  
*She decided to take a stroll outside.  
  
*She noticed a little hut by the lake and saw a shadow move from within it.  
  
*"Well, well, well, what do we have here? A student out of bed. Tut tut."  
  
*She then heard the sounds of a few more sets of footsteps coming from down the hall. 


	24. The Midnight Stroll

A/N- hello everyone! Thanks for the reviews. Well, I've decided that before I start this chapter, I'll warn you that this chapter is going to be a pointless one. Though, I'm sure I'll have fun writing it. What I mean by pointless is that this chapter takes place during the night before the school finds out about Lily. Sorry if you were anxious to find out how the school reacts. I just wanted to take a break from the sadness. After all, both my stories are a little depressing at the moment. Well, anyway enjoy!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
It was around twelve o'clock midnight and Lily was tossing and turning fitfully in her bed. The hospital ones sure weren't very comfortable. Other than the fact that she was uncomfortable, she was confused and a thousand thoughts were buzzing around in her head. She felt alone and simply lost. She didn't know so much about herself.  
  
From what the four boys, the old wise man, and the worrisome nurse had told her, her name was Lily Evans, she was fifteen years old, turning 16 on July 8th, was a talented witch, exceeding very well in...Charms? Whatever that was, and that she was in the hospital wing from a...Quidditch accident? What the heck was Quidditch? And that she had been unconscious for five months, succeeded in escaping death while she was unconscious about two times, and actually was rendered legally dead just recently for facts unknown. They also spoke of a man named...Vincent?.....Victor?.....Volde- Voldemort? Yes, Voldemort. But, she didn't know of her home life. Did she have any brothers or sisters? Were her parents here at this school? No, they probably weren't-or they would have already been in to see her. But, if they weren't here, were they at home, waiting for their little daughter to finally awaken? And her house. Where did she live? Did she have a pet?  
  
After another five minutes of useless attempts to sleep, she decided to explore some of the school. 'After all, it can't be 'that' big. I'm sure I won't get lost', she thought to herself as she cautiously sat up and looked around the dark hospital room. Madame Pomfrey had gone off to bed an hour earlier right after she checked Lily one last time. No one else was in the room as far as Lily could see, so she slowly put her feet on the smooth cool ground and stood up wiggly. Her knees were still like jelly. 'Must be the sleeping for five months that did that to them' she thought wryly as she looked around for her white robe, squinting through the semi-darkness. The little window behind her bed allowed a small amount of moonlight from the half moon to shower her bed in the soft light. She pulled on her robe, and slipped her white slippers on.  
  
As she silently walked towards the large doors leading to the rest of the school, the little windows allowed moonlight to fall open her occasionally and she was able to see her reflection in the mirror. What she saw look back at her was a slightly timid looking redhead. She admitted to herself her hair was a bold, obvious color that she liked somewhat, but it looked a little odd; it wasn't a normal hair color. Falling down to frame her face, a little ruffled looking from lying in the bed, it looked like fire around her head. And her eyes were very, VERY green. Surely they would have stood out in the midst of the rest of the students when she went to class or walked in halls. They held an empty, dull look that contrasted greatly with the color. Her freckles stood out against her pale skin and it made her look very young and naïve. And it wasn't as though they were all over her body; they pretty much just situated themselves among her cheeks, right below her eyes.  
  
Honestly, she didn't understand why she would be so popular and liked by her fellow peers. Surely her different looks and timid nature would cause social disgrace among the rest of the school. But, proving her wrong, the fours boys that were in here earlier went on about how literally 'everyone' was worried and sad about her accident. Lily let go of those thoughts and walked out of the hospital wing, feeling exhilarated. Maybe she would remember something if she saw it.  
  
Staring intently at her surrounding outside of the hospital wing, she smiled slightly. It really reminded her of an old castle or something like it. There were even torches propped on the walls to help guide her. She realized that if anyone saw her, she would look pretty silly walking around the school aimlessly in her night robe and slippers. Frankly, though, it didn't matter to her at the time. She couldn't sleep, maybe strolling around would help. So, walking slowly, occasionally leaning on the wall for support, she made her way little by little down the halls. It seemed like forever before she found a set of stairs.  
  
Feeling exhausted, though knowing she wouldn't be able to fall asleep if she went back to the hospital wing, she just decided to sit on the steps for a few minutes to catch her breath. She was really having a good time. The school was beautiful so far. Mind you, she still hadn't seen anything that looked remotely familiar, but she was enjoying herself nonetheless. Suddenly, she felt a jerk. Looking wildly around, she saw no one but herself there. Then, a moment later, to her surprise, the staircase started to move.  
  
She grasped the wooden railing from above her and pulled herself up. Clutching the rail as though it were her lifeline, she forced herself not to scream in terror. 'The staircase is moving! Oh my goodness! This-this isn't normal. Is it?...Well, maybe it is. After all, this is a school of witchcraft, I guess anything is possible.' She thought to herself as the staircase stopped moving. Taking her chances, she rushed up to the top of them and ran a few feet away from the stairs. She turned and looked back at them, walking backwards and her mouth hanging open in wonder. Then, she started to smile.  
  
"That was..." she whispered breathlessly, "fun."  
  
Then, she turned to leave the stairs and walked a few minutes. She looked around, seeing some suits of armor. And there was also a portrait up ahead; but aside from that, it looked as though this hallway was a dead end. Lily shrugged and started to walk the direction she came from. She didn't even walk a foot when she heard a gasp from behind.  
  
"Good gracious!" the same person that gasped exclaimed. Lily was sure there was no one there in the hall but her.  
  
She turned and immediately put a hand up to her mouth to stifle a scream. The portrait she saw before was moving and talking! The fat lady in the pink dress looked down at her, confused.  
  
"Miss Evans?" she questioned disbelievingly. Lily stared right back at her, just as disbelievingly.  
  
"Is it really you, Miss Evans?" the lady questioned again when Lily had yet to make a sound, or move for that matter.  
  
Lily finally found her voice and asked incredulously, "How are you talking? Who are you?"  
  
The fat lady furrowed her brows and asked, "Excuse me?"  
  
"How do you know my name? Y-you're a 'portrait' and you're 'talking'!" Lily went on, not hearing the fat lady's question.  
  
"Are you alright, Miss Evans? I must admit, you've been unconscious for quite some time, but surely you haven't forgotten all this." The lady stated worriedly.  
  
"W-what?" Lily asked breathlessly.  
  
The fat lady smiled gently and started to explain to her about the moving portraits. "So, in order to get into our house common room, we need to have a password we give out to our portrait?"  
  
"That's right, and then we open up and let you in." the fat lady finished with a satisfied smile. Then, she turned serious and said, "Excuse me for asking, dear, but, why don't you know this stuff? Have you lost your memory?"  
  
Lily nodded, "Yeah. I guess so, at least. That is what that nurse and...erm, Dumbledore said. I guess I've been in a coma for the past five months."  
  
The fat lady nodded and said, "Yes, you were. That is why I was so confused when I saw you walking down this hall." Lily smiled in understanding. No one but the nurse, the Marauders, and Dumbledore knew about Lily, so I guess she could only imagine how it must have felt when the fat lady saw her. Then, the fat lady changed the subject and said, "And, I am afraid I can't let you in; you don't know the password."  
  
Lily quickly said, "Oh, yes, I know. Actually, that's not what I was doing. Madame Pomfrey doesn't even know I'm gone. I just couldn't sleep and decided to take a walk and explore the castle."  
  
The fat lady nodded in understanding. Lily then said, "Well, I guess you're probably tired. I should go and let you rest."  
  
"Thank you, my dear. It is wonderful to see you healthy again." Lily smiled at her and turned.  
  
She walked a little ways and then turned back and said, "You know, I'm glad I ran into you. What is your name?"  
  
"Mary, my dear, my name is Mary." The fat lady replied, looking very pleased that someone was kind enough to ask for her name.  
  
"Well, Mary, I guess I will be seeing you later. And thank you again." Lily said with a big smile as she turned and left.  
  
The portrait was left with her thoughts. 'At least her personality didn't change.'  
  
~*~*~A little while before, in the Gryffindor common room*~*~*~  
  
James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, along with many other fifth and seventh years were still in the common room doing homework at around twelve thirty at night. The four marauders were bursting with happiness, though they didn't tell anyone else why they were so happy. They realized Lily would be confused and scared for a little while and telling everyone would just make it so she'd have hundreds of visitors everyday. They didn't want to put that kind of stress on her.  
  
So, they were all there, in chairs or couches or even sitting on the floor, writing furiously on parchments, ink splattering everywhere. James, Sirius, were sitting on a couch near the fire, their feet propped up on the table in front of them, and Remus Peter were sitting on the ground facing that table, all finishing a potions essay. Or, at least trying to finish the essay. They couldn't concentrate. A major weight had been lifted off their shoulders and they were able to relax and not have to worry about Lily's health or wellbeing. This was a major mood change from dinner time, when they were all barely picking at their food, looking depressed.  
  
Frank Longbottom, a sixth year Gryffindor, also noticed the four's odd behavior. He decided to ask them about it. So, he got up from his place near the portrait hole and stood in front of them. James and Sirius stopped their talking and writing and looked up at him. Remus and Peter stopped writing and turned around to look at him.  
  
"Hey Frank. How's it going?" Sirius asked casually and politely. The marauders and he always got along pretty well. He would sometimes cover for them when they got in trouble so they respected him.  
  
"Pretty well." He replied, still staring at them intently. "Are you four alright? I mean, tonight at dinner, you guys looked like Christmas had been cancelled and now, you look like Christmas is coming 50 times this 'year'."  
  
The marauders all looked at each other, exchanging knowing grins. James shrugged to the others. Then he turned his attention back to Frank and he motioned for him to sit down on the couch. He sat beside James and looked at them, confused.  
  
"Ok, so what's the big secret?" Frank asked.  
  
James looked one last time at the other three then said to Frank, "Ok, you can't tell anyone, but...Lily's awake."  
  
Frank's eyes widened in absolute astonishment. "Are you kidding?!" he practically yelled, causing many stares from the rest of the Gryffindors.  
  
"Shhh!" Sirius snapped then said happily, "Nope, we're not joking. Actually, a lot has happened today."  
  
"What?" Frank asked curiously.  
  
"Well, today in potions, we were called out of class by Dumbledore." Peter started, tears welling up in his eyes when he thought about what happened.  
  
"H-he told us Lily had died." Remus continued quietly.  
  
"W-what? Lily...died? But you said she was awake?!" Frank said incredulously.  
  
"She is, she is." James assured him. "Anyway, he told us that she had died, then we went to the hospital wing to say...goodbye. But, when we got there, Madame Pomfrey was rushing out of it, looking frazzled and anxious. She told us Lily had woken up. She came back from the dead." He whispered the last part incredulously.  
  
"So, we went in and saw her. Then, Dumbledore came in with Madame Pomfrey and told us they were moving her to St. Mungos to treat her there. So, we each took our turns and said our goodbyes." Sirius went on.  
  
"After James came out last, we went down to dinner; that was where everyone saw us looking, well...depressed." Remus continued. Frank nodded in understanding.  
  
"Well, then, Dumbledore then found James in the hall while he was owling his parents to tell them about Lily. They went into the Great Hall and took us to the hospital wing for the third time that day. When we got there, all we saw was an empty bed." Peter told Frank.  
  
"We thought Lily was gone, but then, there she was, walking out of the lavatory in a white cotton robe, smiling at us." Sirius said, smiling as he thought about that moment.  
  
"That's great you guys." Frank said happily.  
  
James sighed and said, "Well, not everything is great."  
  
"What do you mean?" Frank asked, smile turning into a frown.  
  
"She doesn't have any memory of us, or anything." Remus said quietly, eyes dropping to the table in front of him.  
  
Frank's eyes widened again, "She has amnesia?"  
  
They all four nodded. "Yep." Sirius said simply. Then, happier, he said, "But that doesn't matter. She'll get her memory back. Right now, we're just happy she's awake. After five 'long' months, she finally awake and we can re-teach her how to wreck havoc on Hogwarts again."  
  
"Looks like the Marauders are all back together again." Frank said dryly, though thrilled that they were all back together. Maybe Lily being awake would help loosen the tension with everyone.  
  
Just at that moment, everyone in the common room heard two muffled voices through the portrait hole. One was the fat lady's voice, but the weird part was she didn't sound at all crabby about being woken up at this hour. Quite the opposite. She sounded happy. After a few minutes of the fat lady and the mystery person talking, it abruptly stopped. Many people shrugged and went back to work when they realized no one was going to enter.  
  
"Wonder who that was." Frank mumbled.  
  
The marauders just shrugged and they all got back to their potions essay.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Lily spent the next half hour walking aimlessly around the castle in awe. Currently, she was standing in front of four rather large hour glasses. Above each one, there was a word. Above the hour glass with the most in it, was the word Gryffindor. The one next to it with very few beads in it read Hufflepuff. The one next to it with just a little more than Hufflepuff read Ravenclaw. The last one there, with just a little less than Gryffindor's, was labeled Slytherian. Lily stared at it for a few more moments in wonder before she turned and walked a little more down the hall. She noticed on her right, a portrait of a unicorn was galloping in a meadow. On her left, a portrait of fruits in a bowl hung. Lily kept walking without a second glance at it.  
  
At least, she would have. Not after she took more than a few steps, she heard a noise like a door opening. Turning towards her left where she heard the sound come from, she found herself face to face with the fruit portrait. She jumped back in surprise when the portrait opened and a whole bunch of little things she didn't recognize came out meekly. They had large, tennis ball-like eyes and pointy ears. Some were poorly dressed and some had funny bright sweaters and hats on.  
  
Lily gasped in surprise and that caused all of them to jump in surprise as well.  
  
"Us is sorry Miss Lily Evans. Us did not know you is being here. Us is just starting to go around the castle and tidy up." One of them said timidly and apologetically.  
  
"Uh, th-that's alright. I...I was just startled, that's all." Lily said breathlessly, coming to her senses. Then, she looked quite embarrassed and asked, "Erm, if you don't mind me asking, what you are?"  
  
They all simply tilted their heads in the same direction. "Us is confused, Lily Evans. What is you meaning?" one of them asked.  
  
"Er...w-what are you? D-did I know you all from before?" she asked.  
  
"Us is house-elves Lily Evans. Does Lily Evans not remember who we is?" the first one asked, sounding a little sad.  
  
"I-I'm sorry, but I don't." she quickly went on to explain after she saw the crushed looks on their faces, "You see, I kind of lost my memory. I don't remember much of anything right now."  
  
"Us is sorry Lily Evans." said the one that spoke second. "I is Jeepers." He told her.  
  
"I is Tinny. Would Miss like something to eat?" one of them asked.  
  
"Oh, is this the kitchens?" she asked, intrigued. They all nodded. "Well, I am pretty hungry; I haven't eaten anything since I've been awake. I've just been so overwhelmed." She noticed most of the house-elves looked pretty overwhelmed as well. She didn't know that most weren't use to being spoken to like an equal just as she was doing. Tinny and Jeepers noticed Lily's confused stare when she realized most looked absolutely afraid of her.  
  
"They is not use to being treated like an equal, Miss Lily Evans." Jeepers told her. Lily nodded as Jeepers and Tinny both led her into the kitchens as the others rushed off to start their cleaning for the night.  
  
When Lily saw the kitchens, she gazed around in awe. It was so big! There were even more little tiny house-elves in their, some doing dishes, some preparing what looked to be breakfast, and some even sleeping near the fire. Lily felt a little sorry for the creatures, but those thoughts were pushed out of her mind when Tinny asked her a question.  
  
"What would Lily Evans like to eat?"  
  
"Mmmm, I don't know." She stated thoughtfully, "Could you maybe just surprise me?" she asked politely. Tinny and Jeepers nodded enthusiastically and rushed off. Several minutes later, they came back with armfuls of food and sweets. Lily eyes widened and she started to grin widely.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Thank you so much, Tinny and Jeepers. I'll be sure to come back and visit soon." Lily called out as she walked out of the fruit portrait. She sighed happily, feeling stuffed and still exhilarated. She wanted to know what else this school held in it. She started to walk around again, taking in every suit of armor, every portrait (some even waved at her).  
  
Walking a long hall, Lily felt the air change around her. Behind her suddenly felt a little cooler. That was when she heard another noise from behind.  
  
"(Gasp) Lily Evans? Bless my soul, is that you?"  
  
She turned around, and let out another gasp of fright. That was the forth time that night she did that. And one thing was crazier, yet cooler than the next. Standing before her was a real ghost! This place was absolutely amazing. Slightly shaking, she said, "Yes, that's me."  
  
The ghost smiled widely and said, "Miss Evans, it is bloody good to see you."  
  
Lily smiled while she bit her lip. "Thank you. Not to sound rude, but who are...I mean...were you?" Seeing the ghost's confused look, she simply explained, "Amnesia."  
  
The ghost nodded his head in understanding, still smiling widely, "Ah, I understand. Well, my dead, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington at your service. Nearly Headless Nick as a nickname to most, but I prefer Nick."  
  
"Well, Nick it is then." Lily said politely, smiling widely.  
  
Nick smiled and said, "Ah, Miss Evans it is good to see you up and about. Many of us have been worried about you."  
  
Lily continued to smile and then said, "Why thank you. I'm fine, I just wish I could remember any of this." she added sheepishly. "I just wish my memory wasn't gone."  
  
"Oh, no, Lily. Your memory isn't gone, it's simply misplaced. And just like a lost object, it will turn up in time." Nick said encouragingly.  
  
Lily said graciously, "Thank you, Nick."  
  
"Certainly. But, may I ask why you are out here at this hour of the night." Nick said curiously.  
  
"Oh, I just couldn't sleep, so I decided to take a walk and explore the school." Lily explained.  
  
"But, surely you will get lost." Nick stated skeptically.  
  
"Oh, of course. But, you see, I'm a lost object. And like an object that is lost, I will turn up in time." Lily smiled smugly as Nick just laughed.  
  
"Very clever, Lily. You may have misplaced your memory, but you haven't misplaced your wittiness or personality.  
  
Well, I guess I should let you get back to your exploration. Goodnight, Lily." Nick said.  
  
"Oh, Nick, could you please direct me to the lavatory?" Lily asked quickly before Nock disappeared.  
  
"Of course, my dear." And he went on explained the way to the closest bathroom.  
  
When he finished, Lily smiled and said, "Thank you. I guess I'll be seeing you. And it was wonderful to meet you, Nick."  
  
Nick smiled as she walked away. "Cheerful girl..." he murmured.  
  
Lily walked the way Nick told her to. She didn't realize he directed her into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. As she reached it, she pulled open the door and walked in. Immediately, she heard a soft, sorrowful voice call out, "Who's there?"  
  
"Er, it's Lily. Lily Evans." Lily stated nervously. Suddenly, another ghost popped out. This one was a girl that looked to be about Lily's age. She wore glasses and a solemn expression upon her face.  
  
"Come to make fun of me, did you?" Myrtle demanded.  
  
Lily widened her eyes at the accusation and said, "Of course not! Why would I do something like that?"  
  
"Oh sure, everyone makes fun of poor Moaning Myrtle just because she's different. Toss books at my head, talk about me behind my back because I CAN'T FEEL ANYTHING!!!" she shrilled the last part, causing Lily to wince and scoot closer to the door. "Make fun of my glasses, don't invite me to any parties!" That was it. 'Forget the bathroom! I'm getting out of here!' she thought wildly to herself. Lily bolted out the door, not wanting to cause anymore trouble.  
  
After a while, her heart started to beat at a normal rate again. She walked through another large hall and saw two large doors. Curiously, she opened the doors and walked in. It was a gigantic room, complete with four long tables going vertically and one large table going horizontally in front of those. She looked around; it was wonderful. Lily looked up and was amazed by the scene she saw. It was like there was no roof in the hall. The beautiful night's sky loomed over her. Suddenly, Lily had an incredible urge to see it from a plainer view. So, she decided to take a stroll outside.  
  
That was easier said then done. She looked around, opening doors and checking, for a full 45 minutes before she came across a pair of doors that led to the outside. Walking, enthusiastically out, she looked up again and saw the same beautiful night's sky she seen earlier in the Great Hall.  
  
She walked a little ways away from the school. That was when she saw a large, shinning lake ahead of her. She walked over to it and sat down, staring at her reflection. She grabbed a twig off the ground and swooshed it back and forth through the cool water. Then, Lily took off her slippers and dunked her feet into the tempting, soothing liquid. She leaned back and took a deep breath, enjoying the relaxing feeling she got at being out here at this late hour.  
  
She was out there for at least an hour, staring and memorizing every detail. The moonlight. The moon. Ripples in the water. She noticed a little hut by the lake and saw a shadow move from within it. Shrugging it off, she went back to her relaxing. Suddenly, she finally felt tired. Sighing and picking up her slippers, she started to walk back to the school.  
  
Lily got a full view of it, and it took her by great surprise. 'This isn't a school...it's a castle!' she thought to herself, a smile coming on her lips. 'So that's why the inside looked like a castle. It's because it 'is' a castle.' She skipped the rest of the way to the castle.  
  
Once inside, she realized that she was a little more than lost. And she was becoming very drowsy. She should have just went back to the hospital wing back when Nick was with her so she could have asked for directions there instead of to the crazy ghost's bathroom.  
  
Ten minutes later, Lily was becoming a little worried. Every hall looked the same as the previous! Then, just like the first time she spoke to everyone that night, she heard a voice behind her, though this one sounded cold and mean instead of happy.  
  
"Well, well, well, what do we have here? A student out of bed. Tut tut."  
  
Lily's eyes widened in fear and she determinedly turned around. Before her, was a scraggly man that looked to be in his 30s. Long, stringy hair fell limply passed his shoulder. He was holding a lantern in his hand and Lily noticed a cat purring at the bottom of his feet. She gulped when she saw his stern gaze on her. She was so in trouble. Sneaking out of the Infirmary? What was she 'thinking'?!  
  
Suddenly, to the surprise of the pale-faced Lily, his face drained of color as well. His eyes widened in apparent shock. He back up, pointing a shaky finger at her, "Evans!" he shouted with great surprise.  
  
Lily was breathing heavily, her mouth opened in fright. The firelight made her face glow. She looked at him questioningly and frightened. Her fears seemed to be uncalled for because at that moment, his eyes closed and he collapsed right on the spot. Lily stared at him in shock like he was doing only seconds earlier to her. She was still breathing heavily, like she just finished a ten mile race.  
  
She then heard the sounds of a few more sets of footsteps coming from down the hall. She stayed still, not even blinking. She was going to be in so much trouble. It was probably Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey, coming to see what all the commotion was about. Then, she'd be suspended for sneaking out after hours, with no memory of anything, no less!  
  
To her confusion, though, she heard, not a man's, nor an English woman's voice behind her, but a woman with a Scottish accent.  
  
Back still turned to her, the woman asked incredulously, "What on earth happened here?!"  
  
Lily closed her eyes tightly and turned around. Slowly she opened them and found herself in front of a stern looking woman with her hair tied in a tight bun. Tiny glasses were perched upon her nose. She also saw a short, tiny creature, which looked like an elf of some kind. The little creature squeaked and the woman didn't look stern at the moment she realized who she was talking to.  
  
"My goodness!" the old woman whispered  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N- hello everyone. I'm sorry if this chapter seems a little boring. I just didn't feel like writing too much drama at the moment. In any case, boring or not, I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you for reviewing! 


	25. Presents!

The little creature squeaked and the woman didn't look stern at the moment she realized who she was talking to.  
  
"My goodness!" the old woman whispered  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Miss Evans?" the little creature squeaked questioningly.  
  
Lily smiled wearily. Maybe she wouldn't get suspended after all. Nonetheless, though, she was still terrified.  
  
She bit her lip and nodded slowly to the question. Looking between the two, she realized their eyes were opened so wide she was afraid they might pop right out of their sockets. Lily fiddled with her hands, nervous and a bit uncomfortable at being stared upon so intently.  
  
The older woman turned pale and she put her hand up to her mouth in shock. The little creature just smiled widely and happily.  
  
"It is wonderful to see you up and about, Miss Evans." He squeaked, then changing the subject, he turned his attention to the stunned woman. "I better get Argus off to the Infirmary." She nodded in reply and he levitated the unconscious man off to the hospital wing.  
  
Lily turned her attention back to the woman when the little creature had rounded a corner at the end of the hall. The woman had seemed to get over the shock of seeing Lily up and walking around. She nodded sternly, though Lily could almost detect a faint smile upon her face, and said, "You best be off to your dormitory, Miss Evans. It's almost 5 o'clock." With that said, the old woman turned, ready to walk away, but Lily stopped her abruptly.  
  
"Er, well, I-I don't exactly..." she paused for a second, then said, "I don't 'know' where my dormitory is." She looked as though she was going to say more, but decided not to.  
  
The woman's jaw dropped. "Can you please explain, Miss Evans?" she asked faintly, as though she already knew the answer.  
  
"I have amnesia." Lily said sheepishly. "Actually, I'm not really supposed to be out of the hospital wing." She said, looking at her feet.  
  
The woman nodded in understanding, "Oh, I see. Well, then, I should probably escort you back to the hospital wing." she suggested, Lily nodded in relief.  
  
"If you would. I'm really lost." she said with a little laugh. As the two walked along, Lily said in a carefree, polite way, "So, what is your name?"  
  
The woman looked down at her and a faint smile appeared on her face. "I am Professor McGonagall, the transfiguration teacher here. That other man you saw here a minute ago was Argus Filch, the caretaker here. And the one you saw levitating him to the hospital wing was Professor Flitwick, he is the Charms professor here. "  
  
Lily opened her mouth wide and said, "Oh." Then, she smiled as wide as she could. "Well, it's nice to meet you...again."  
  
This caused a full smile on McGonagall's face. "Lovely to have you back, Miss Evans."  
  
Lily asked curiously, "So, I am a good student in transfiguration?"  
  
McGonagall smiled faintly once again. She was thinking about all the pranks her and her friends pulled in that class. "Academically or socially?"  
  
Lily shrugged then smiled, "Both I guess."  
  
"Well, let's see. In your studies in that class, you are the second in your year. Mr. James Potter is in first." McGonagall explained, secretly wondering if Lily knows who he and the rest are yet.  
  
Lily thought about that name for a minute. She recognized it as one of her friends that came in to see her. "Oh!" Lily exclaimed excitedly, happy that her friends weren't totally against learning. "So James is good in that class." That answered McGonagall's silent question.  
  
"Yes, he is rather exceptional in that class." She answered.  
  
"Ok, so how about socially? Do I talk a lot in that class?" Lily asked, a mischievous glint in her eye that, McGonagall could have sworn, had taken refuge in Sirius' eye since the beginning of first year. Occasionally, she would see the same mischievous look in the other four; like right now.  
  
"Well, you're not too bad. It is mostly Mr. Potter and Mr. Black that disrupt the class. Though, there are times when you, Mr. Lupin, and Mr. Pettigrew join in." she answered with a sigh.  
  
"I'm sure that we mean nothing by it." Lily said.  
  
McGonagall looked at her from the corner of her eye, "Well that's a relief." Lily giggled and then the next minute, they were at the hospital entrance.  
  
The minute they opened the door, Madame Pomfrey rushed forward. She looked as though she was about to have a heart attack. "Miss Evans! Thank goodness you are alright, child! I woke up when Professor Flitwick brought Argus in here and you weren't in here!!!" she exclaimed, sounding like a worried mother. Lily noticed that the caretaker must have been revived because he was no where to be seen. "Where have you been?!" she demanded in a stern tone.  
  
Lily paled, feeling the dread in her stomach she felt back in the hallway when she met the two teachers and Mr. Filch. Would she get suspended? Maybe she could talk her way out of it.  
  
"I-I couldn't sleep. I just went for a walk. You know, explore the castle." Lily said in mock innocence, apparently one of her personality traits were kicking in.  
  
Madame Pomfrey and McGonagall obviously knew what she was trying to pull. The corners of McGonagall's mouth twitched as she tried to suppress a smile. Madame Pomfrey raised an eyebrow and asked in a serious voice, "How long have you been out of bed?"  
  
Lily laughed, amused, "I don't think you want me to answer that." she said, in a carefree way.  
  
McGonagall couldn't help it. She let out a snort of laughter and abruptly stopped when seeing the stern gaze Pomfrey sent her. Then, Madame Pomfrey looked back at Lily and said, "I've just talked with Dumbledore not five minutes before you came in. We were both worried sick! He left and he is, at the moment, informing the head of houses, the head boy and girl, and the prefects, to search for you."  
  
Lily's eyebrows shot up. All this just for her?! "Surely it isn't 'that' big of deal." She said, sounding guilty once again.  
  
"A student, whom just woke up from a five month nap, has amnesia, has the Dark Lord after her, and is missing from her bed in the middle of the night- ,"  
  
"Technically, it isn't the middle of the night."  
  
"Nonetheless, it would cause some sort of concern." Madam Pomfrey finished sternly.  
  
Lily lowered her eyes to her slippers, sighed quietly and then said just as quietly, "I'm sorry. I didn't think I'd cause this much trouble for anyone. I just had trouble sleeping and I wanted to explore."  
  
Madame Pomfrey's eyes softened as did McGonagall's. "Well, I guess there really no harm done. Maybe if we hurry, we can stop Dumbledore from waking up all the prefects and head students."  
  
Lily decided against telling them that it was already about 5:30. Some people are probably already awake anyway. So, despite that fact, she followed McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey along the halls, foolishly trying to locate the headmaster.  
  
Lily thought it would be more useful if they split up.  
  
"Under no circumstances will I allow you to wonder off on your own again, Miss Evans. That is what started all this in the first place." Madame Pomfrey announced.  
  
"But, I already know my way to some parts of the school. I won't get lost. I've spent most of the night wondering around anyway. Plus, if I do get lost, someone will be 'bound' to find me. After all, that is what they're doing anyway." Lily reasoned. Madame Pomfrey and McGonagall eyed her skeptically. Lily smiled cheekily to them and knew she had won them over.  
  
"Alright, but if you get lost, look for anyone and I mean 'anyone' in the school, and asked them for directions to the Infirmary." Madame Pomfrey said, still not entirely convinced.  
  
Lily smiled again then rushed off the other direction. Everything around this place still fascinated her. She was just rounding a corner when suddenly, she was ambushed.  
  
"Oomph." Lily mumbled. Then, she was grabbed around the shoulders and spun to face her 'attacker'.  
  
"Lily!!!" Sirius said, relief clouded in his eyes, "Thank goodness you're ok! We've been worried SICK!"  
  
"Oh, hi er... Sirius." Lily finally said as she thought of who this was. She didn't notice the sad look in his eyes when he realized she was trying to figure out who he was. But, nevertheless, he quickly replaced that look with a mock stern look.  
  
"Where have you been?" Sirius asked, trying to look stern. If it had been anyone else he did this to, they would have been laughing their head off right about now. But to someone who didn't have any memory of Sirius' antics, Lily answered, thinking he really was mad.  
  
"Oh, I was taking a stroll around the castle. That's all. I'm sorry, I just couldn't sleep and I was bored, I had to get out of there. I'm really sorry if I caused some much trouble." Lily said quickly, concerned.  
  
"Calm down, Lils." Sirius said, sounding a little surprised at Lily's reaction. "I was only joking. I'm not mad or anything. We were just worried." He paused, guilt now placed in his eyes, "Come on, let's go find the rest of them. They're still looking for you." He finished, placing his arm around her shoulder.  
  
"Who else knows about me being missing?" Lily asked as they walked along.  
  
"Just James, Remus, Peter. The head boy and girl, Melissa Miller and Bradley Anderson. Good Merlin, they were pretty surprised when they were woken up at 6 in the morning to go and look for LILY EVANS, the girl who was in a coma for '5' months." Sirius went on dramatically. Lily giggled. He smiled down at her, happy to see her laugh. It was like music to the ears.  
  
By now, there was an occasional early riser heading down to breakfast. One person they walked passed was a boy, probably in forth year. He had light brown hair with dark brown eyes that simply stared straight ahead. Sirius was still making her laugh.  
  
"Lily BILLY! Can I have a carrot?" Sirius said, hopping up and down like a bunny. She giggled 'real' loud after that and the kid who had just passed widened his eyes when he heard the recognized sound and turned to look curiously at her. While he was doing this, however, he didn't realize where he was going and he ran straight into a wall.  
  
They just rounded another corner when they heard a voice shout, "LILY!" they turned around and saw Remus and Peter running up to them. "Good job, Sirius. You've found her." Peter said.  
  
"Where've you been Lily?" Remus asked, concern etched in his voice.  
  
"I just took a walk. It was really no big deal. Erm...Remus and Peter, right?" Lily said, trying desperately to remember their names.  
  
They nodded, sadness flashed in their eyes for a split second. Lily noticed this and said morosely, "I'm really sorry, you guys. I-I'm trying to remember...It's just really hard."  
  
Remus quickly shook his head and said, "No, no Lily. It's alright. We understand, so don't feel bad. We'll help you remember. It's just a matter of time."  
  
Lily smiled a little. Then, Peter changed the subject to her 'midnight walk'.  
  
"But late at night...after curfew?" Peter said, sounding like he would have a heart attack at the idea of breaking curfew. Even though they had done that at least 200 times since they've attended Hogwarts.  
  
"A true Marauder, eh?" Sirius said with pride. "No respect for the rules."  
  
Remus and Lily both rolled their eyes, though Lily laughed, nonetheless. Then, they heard another voice. The last Marauder.  
  
"Lily Flower!" James said, rushing up to them, out of breath. "Thank goodness your alright." He walked over and hugged her fiercely. Then, he held her at arms length and said, "Don't ever do that again! I was so worried."  
  
"I'm really sorry...James." Lily said, feeling guilty for what seemed like the 50th time that morning. "I just couldn't sleep. I went for a walk on the grounds."  
  
James sighed and said, "It's alright, Lils. I was just so worried. If anything happened to you...I just don't think I could live with that again." He involuntarily shuddered as he thought about the recent incident.  
  
Lily nodded, not really understanding, but pretended to nonetheless.  
  
"Anyway," Remus said, cutting in. Apparently, that subject seemed to need to be avoided for a while. "We should probably try to find Dumbledore and the head students."  
  
They all nodded and started walked.  
  
Remus, James, Sirius, and Peter all felt complete again. Their fifth member was back with them. Their favorite girl in the world was back with them again. It felt a little odd, her walking around aside of them. Yes, indeed, it did feel weird...but right.  
  
"So Lily," James started, grinning widely, "nice outfit." Lily looked down and realized she was still wearing her white cotton robe with matching slippers.  
  
She looked back up at them. All four were staring at her, amused. She simply laughed. "Why thank you James. If you would like, I'm sure I could find one in your size and color. They make these in pink, don't they?" she asked in mock seriousness.  
  
Remus, Sirius, and James all cracked up. Peter just looked confused, "James likes the color pink?"  
  
That caused another round of laughter. Lily, feeling pity for the poor boy, walked closer to him and said, "No, I was just joking Peter."  
  
Even though she only really knew these boys for less than an entire day, she felt like she knew them forever. Peter Pettigrew was definitely the protected one in their little group of four. He stuttered when he was nervous and he sometimes didn't realize that they were sometimes joking around. Despite all that, Lily decided he seemed like a loyal, good hearted friend. (A/N- HA!) Lily would place him under the category of: loyal.  
  
Lily turned her head and stared at the next boy in the group. Remus Lupin was laughing in a carefree way. Though, Lily could tell there was something different about him. Maybe it was something he was hiding. Whatever it was, he at times seemed a little bit like Peter...timid. And despite all that, Lily placed him under the category of: smart. He had a sort of studious aura about him. Most likely a brilliant student. He was sensitive and level- headed. The kind of person that you could trust with anything. Lily felt safe in his presence.  
  
Next in line was Sirius Black. He was laughing, looking as though he didn't have a care in the world. His name and his personality...two very, VERY different things. That said it all. Lily would definitely place him under the category of: joker. Sirius was definitely the joker of the group. He could make the saddest person in the world laugh. Though, he did seem like quite the flirt. Mind you, after that little unpleasant display Sirius made when Lily had first woken up, she had no doubt in her mind that her and him would 'ever' hook up together. To be honest, that was the way she wanted it. Sure, he was handsome to no end, but she really felt a brother-sister connection between them.  
  
Next was James Potter. Lily's feelings for him were defiantly different than those of the other three. James was just as handsome as Sirius. Maybe more in Lily's opinion. Her feelings for James were unsolved. She felt as though...ugh, she was just so confused. She felt a different connection to James that she didn't with the rest. Maybe it 'was' love that she felt last night after he kissed her cheek. Anyway, back to the task at hand. The one word Lily could use to describe James was: leader. James was probably the leader of the group. He just seemed to have a knack for sticking up for people and such. As stated before, though, Lily had only known them for about a day. There was really no way she was positive on all these assumptions. She just felt that those were the traits they all possessed. There was no doubt in her mind that these four cared about her. They already showed her just how close they were to her. She was probably very well protected between these four. 'I've probably never had a date before in my life', Lily thought to herself, inwardly giggling.  
  
So, the leader, the joker, the smart one, and the loyal one. Where did that put her?  
  
James noticed Lily's pensive thought and suddenly asked her, "What're you thinking about, Lilz?"  
  
She snapped out of her reverie and looked at him. There 'was' something on her mind that she didn't know the answer to. It had been subconsciously driving her mad.  
  
"James, do my parents know about me being awake? Are they coming to see me?" she asked hopefully. Maybe if she saw her parents, she'd remember everything. James exchanged uncomfortable looks with Remus, Sirius, and Peter.  
  
"Er, Lily." James started, gently. They all stopped walking right in the middle of the hall. He took a deep breath and after Sirius and Remus nodded at him seriously, he went on, saying softly, "I'm really sorry, sweetie...Your parents...died a few years ago."  
  
Lily looked down at her slippers. She nodded sadly. "Oh.", she whispered softly. Her right hand flew immediately up to her golden locket. She didn't even realize she did it. It just seemed to come naturally to her. James put an arm around her shoulder. So that was why her parents weren't here. Because they couldn't be. It was a weird feeling. Her stomach felt as though it had been dropped about 50 feet. She felt sad, yes, but not as sad as she should. She didn't know the people, but they were still her parents. Then, she asked another question. Surely she had more family than just her parents, "Do I have any brothers or sisters?"  
  
James sighed again and said, "Yeah, you have one sister, Petunia."  
  
Lily's eyes lit up, "How old is she?" she asked as though she were a small child, right hand still playing with her locket.  
  
"She's 20." Remus said simply, noticing Lily's behavior with the necklace.  
  
Lily's face seemed to glow with happiness, "Is she coming to see me?"  
  
Sirius, Remus, and Peter all looked back at James again, expecting him to answer. James let out a small cough. Then, he said just as gently once again, "I-I don't she will be coming to see you, Flower."  
  
Lily's face fell, "Why not?"  
  
"Lily, your sister...well she isn't the easiest person to get along with." Remus started. Sirius snorted in the background, covering it with a cough. Lily, with her mouth half open and her puppy dog eyes, looked over at Sirius then back at Remus, not loosing her curious look. "You and her...never really got along." He finished quietly.  
  
Lily closed her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, then opened them back up again a said hopefully, "Aunts or uncles?"  
  
They shook their heads, not really wanted to go into that subject.  
  
Lily then asked, "Well, whom do I stay with over the summers. Do I just stay here? Or do I go to an..." she gulped, "an orphanage?"  
  
James shook his head firmly and said, "No way! You stay with me and my family every summer." Lily tilted her head in question. He went on saying, "You and I have known each other since we were three. We used to live on the same block. Then, I moved away. Remember...I told you that already. Our parents were very close friends, so when they found out about your parents, they insisted you stayed with us. It's been like that ever since our first year."  
  
Lily nodded in understanding. Maybe that was the different connection she felt with James. They had known each other since they were merely children. A lot longer than she had known the other three.  
  
They started to walk again. Five minutes later, they came across Dumbledore, McGonagall, the head students, and Madame Pomfrey.  
  
"Excellent. Well, then everyone, you may go down to breakfast if you wish. We should get Lily up to the Infirmary. I think she may need her rest." Dumbledore announced. The four guys bid goodbye to Lily after she received hugs from Melissa and Bradley. They all six went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Not long after, McGonagall left to the Great Hall to make sure no chaos had ensued.  
  
Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey guided her back to the Infirmary, where she laid back in her bed.  
  
"Headmaster?" she asked.  
  
"Yes, Miss Evans." Dumbledore replied.  
  
"When do you think I can leave? I really want to try magic." she asked, an excited gleam in her eye at the prospect of actually doing 'real' magic.  
  
Dumbledore refrained himself from chuckling at her excited look. "Well, I'm guessing Madame Pomfrey will want to keep you in here for a few days. After all, you've just recovered from a five month accident. You need to build up your strength." But, seeing Lily's hopeful look, he said quietly so Madame Pomfrey couldn't here from her position in her office, retrieving some sleeping potion for her, "I can try to get you out of here in two days." Lily smiled widely at him.  
  
Though, it wasn't just Lily's wanting to try magic out that made Dumbledore agree to help her get out of there earlier. He had been thinking about it. The OWLs were fast approaching and she needed all the practice she could get. He really didn't want to hold her back a year. He would have all of her teachers tutor her outside of all her classes everyday, teach her the basics. Then, he would have all her friends help her out with her daily school work. Though, Dumbledore was positive he wouldn't have to do much persuading in that area.  
  
He also had decided not to tell anyone of the students about Lily waking up. True, there were a lot of people that would be thrilled at the idea of Lily being awake. He just didn't want to overwhelm her with all the certain visitors that would be knocking the door down at the thought to see her. So, they would just have to wait to see her when she started attending classes again.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Madame Pomfrey gave Lily some of the sleeping potion. Lily took it in her hands and brought it to her lips...and promptly spit it out.  
  
"Ugh! What is 'in' that?" Lily asked, wiping her mouth. "It is 'vile'!"  
  
"It's sleeping drought, Miss Evans. Now kindly drink the rest without spitting it out. You need your rest." Madame Pomfrey answered sternly. Lily did as she was told, pinching her nose as she did. Instantly, she felt her eyes droop. She barely set the goblet on the table before she fell into a well deserved sleep.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Shh. You're going to wake her up, Peter." Lily heard a voice scold.  
  
"Too late." Another said as Lily opened her eyes slowly. She blinked a couple of times to clear her vision. She saw James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter all seated around her in hospital chairs.  
  
"Well, Sleeping Beauty has finally awoken." Sirius teased. Lily giggled softly.  
  
"What are you lot doing here?" she asked, stifling a yawn, "Isn't there classes?"  
  
"Yeah, actually this is our lunch break. We've got about an hour till our next class. Here, we brought you some food. It's better than the hospital's." James explained as he handed her an assortment of goodies. She ate them, savoring the wonderful flavors on her tongue.  
  
"This is delicious." She announced as she finished her brownie.  
  
"It is." Remus agreed. "But, we did come here for another reason."  
  
"Oh yeah?" Lily asked.  
  
"Yep. We just talked to Madame Pomfrey when we first came in. She's been holding these for you so when you woke up, you'd be able to unwrap them." Sirius said happily as they all pulled out a Christmas gift from behind they're backs.  
  
Lily's eyes lit up. "Presents?" she asked.  
  
"Uh-huh. You see, while you were sleeping, you missed Christmas. So, this will make up for it. Now open them." James said mock-stern.  
  
Lily smiled widely as she took Peter's present. She unwrapped it. That was one thing different about her. She didn't carefully unwrap them like she used to. She pretty much ripped off the paper as fast as she could. The guys all found this pretty funny.  
  
"Oh, Peter, it's gorgeous! Can you help me put it on?" she asked as she held out her wrist. She had gotten her a sterling silver bracelet with little charms on it. Peter's hands shook as he struggled to get it on her wrist. She hugged him, causing him to squeak, then she turned to the next one.  
  
Remus handed her is gift. She unwrapped it. It was a book. "1,000 Most Memorable Quotes." She read on the cover. She looked up at him, joy evident on her face, "Thank you, Remus."  
  
"Your welcome. I know you don't remember this, but you used to love to read all sorts of quotes. And recite them to anyone you could. Maybe this will help you remember." Remus said, shrugging his shoulders. Lily bent and hugged him.  
  
"I hope so. Thank you very much." She said. Then, Sirius handed her his present.  
  
She opened it. It was a dress/robe. And boy, it was GORGEOUS! She gasped, "Sirius! This is 'beautiful!" She held it up. It was a shimmering, glittery white. The material was incredibly soft. It felt as though it was just water being held together in a form of a dress. That's how soft it was. She hugged him firmly and mumbled, "Thank you so much, Sirius."  
  
Sirius smiled fondly at her, "A beautiful dress for a beautiful girl. You can wear that to the next ball we have. Whenever that will be."  
  
James handed her his present last. He seemed nervous about it. Lily tore it open and gasped again. "Oh James..." she trailed off.  
  
"Do you like it?" James asked hopefully.  
  
With her eyes wide, she slowly nodded her head, "It's beautiful, James." she whispered. "I can't accept this. It's too expensive." At that, all four of them laughed. She looked at them, confused.  
  
"Lily, if anyone could afford it, James can. He's bloody rich." Sirius exclaimed. James blushed a deep red. Apparently, they all loved to tease him to no end about that, Lily assumed.  
  
Lily leaned over and hugged him tightly, "Thank you so much, James. It's so pretty." She looked down at her hand at the sparkling necklace placed on her palm. The large flower-shaped pink stone and white crystal made her eyes twinkle. "Can you help me put this on?" she asked. He nodded and clasped it on her neck. "Thank you again. Actually, I have a question. Where did I get this?" she indicated the heart-shaped locket around her neck as well.  
  
Sirius smiled and said, "I got that for you for your twelfth birthday. You've never taken it off." Lily smiled as she fiddled with it.  
  
"Oh yeah, one more thing." James said as he stood up and walked away. Five minutes later, he came back with an odd looking bird perched upon his shoulders. It was a large, red bird. Lily stared right into its eyes. They were so enticing.  
  
"Lily, this is Fawkes. He's your phoenix. I bought him for you for Christmas, though Dumbledore's been taking care of him for you until you woke up. So, here you go." James said. The phoenix flew and landed on Lily's shoulder. She giggled.  
  
"He's beautiful." Lily said.  
  
'So are you.' James thought to himself, wishing he had enough courage to say it out loud.  
  
"So, did I at least get anything for you guys?" Lily asked hopefully. She felt a little weird receiving gifts from friends when she had no memory of giving them anything.  
  
"Oh yeah." Remus assured her. He pulled out a necklace he was wearing out of his shirt and showed it to her. "James, Sirius, and I all got necklaces from you. Peter got a sort of homework diary from you." Remus said. Lily studied the guys' necklaces. One was of the sun, one of fire, and one was a rain drop.  
  
She looked back up at them, "You did like them, didn't you?" she asked, biting her lip.  
  
They smiled, "Yeah. They're awesome. We never take them off." Sirius said.  
  
Lily smiled and then James said, "You also got us all an owl. We named her Lily after you."  
  
Lily smiled even wider. "What color is she?" she asked.  
  
"A white, snowy owl with emerald green eyes, just like yours. She's really pretty. You've got good taste." Sirius answered.  
  
"Hey, guys, we should probably go. Class starts in fifteen minutes." Peter said, looking at his watch.  
  
"You're right, Pete. Come on everyone, we better hurry." Remus said. Then, he looked back at Lily and kissed her cheek. "See you later, Lils."  
  
"We'll come back after class." Sirius said as he kissed her on the cheek.  
  
"Bye Lily." Peter said, awkwardly hugging her.  
  
"Get some more sleep, Flower, you still look exhausted." James said, concern in his voice.  
  
"I will James. Thank you again for the necklace and bird. They're both great." She said as Fawkes flew over to his post bed to Lily's bed.  
  
James bent over and kissed her softly on her forehead. "Sweet dreams, Lily."  
  
And he walked out the room. Lily stared at the door for five minutes after he left. Then, she closed her eyes and nodded off; not noticing both her locket and her new crystal necklace started glowing a faint pink.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N- hello everyone. Well, ff is finally back up! That's a relief. I'm sorry for this chapter. It's really hard to read with all that added stuff in place of the apostrophes and quotation marks. Anyone know how to stop those? If you do, email me or review. Well, anyway, thank you for reading and reviewing!!! 


	26. Her First Day Back

"But Madame Pomfrey, I'm 'fine'!" Lily insisted. It was the second day she was in there, conscious, and she seemed to be in perfect health other than her memory loss. She was anxious to do some magic, but the fussy nurse just 'wasn't' cooperating.  
  
Madame Pomfrey just hummed a little tune, ignoring the redhead's pleas, well use to them by now. She was carrying some folded blankets to a storage cupboard on the other end of the Infirmary with Lily trailing behind her, practically on her hands and knees begging to be let out.  
  
'Honestly, woman.' Lily thought silently to the stubborn nurse, 'If I'm healthy enough to be out of bed, then I'm sure as heck healthy enough to attend class.' She sighed and tried again, "I've been awake for two days and I haven't so much as 'coughed' in your presence. I think I'm in good enough health. Honest!"  
  
The nurse stopped abruptly and turned around to face her. "Miss Evans," she started, frustrated, "You were in a 'coma' for 'five months'! You've had and still 'have' amnesia since then. I think it will take a tad bit longer than 'two days' to recover from that." she went on, sarcasm evident in her voice, "Now...back...in...your...bed." she finished, pronouncing each word slowly, yet forcefully.  
  
Lily pouted and went back to her bed. This was not how she wanted to spend the day. She had been going out of her mind without any visitors during the day courtesy of classes, which she wasn't allowed to attend. But she perked up when she thought of another thing.  
  
'Dumbledore!' she thought silently to herself. 'He said he would try to talk Madame Pomfrey into letting me go early.' And if he arrived within the next half hour, she'd be able to eat breakfast with the Marauders. 'Please please please please come soon, Professor.' she silently begged.  
  
The doors to the Infirmary suddenly opened as though an answer to her prayers. There stood the Headmaster. He looked over at Lily, seeing her desperate expression and winked in assurance. Lily sighed in relief.  
  
She saw him walk over to where Madame Pomfrey was and talk to her. She looked appalled for a moment, then her eyes soften and she nodded dejectedly. This caused Lily to smile so wide someone may have thought her face would crack. Knowing the answer already, Lily leapt up off the bed and walked casually to the bathroom to wash up. Ten minutes later, she came out in her white robe and slippers, with a towel wrapped around her head to help dry her now wet hair. She saw Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey waiting near her bed.  
  
She walked over and before she could say anything, Dumbledore spoke up and said, "I had one of the house elves bring along a set of your school uniforms and a few accessories; toothbrush, hairbrush and such." He handed her a bundle of clothes and some bathroom accessories.  
  
"Thank you, Professor." she said, gratefully accepting it all. She walked back into the bathroom and another ten minutes later, she came out, looking like she normally did. Her hair was down; cascading down her back, and a little bit of green eyeliner on and some clear lipgloss. Her school uniform fit the exact same. It would definitely take some time to see Lily walk around dressed like that, all ready to head off to class or the Great Hall. Dumbledore had a proud look on his face and Madame Pomfrey had tears in her eyes as she sniffed loudly.  
  
Lily looked at her, startled, "What's wrong, Madame Pomfrey?" she asked concerned.  
  
"I just can't get over it." Madame Pomfrey said shakily, "It's been such a long time since I saw you dressed like that; almost like I'm dreaming." She really 'had' turned into a mother hen. All those months of having Lily in the Infirmary, Madame Pomfrey felt a connection to her. Weird, but true.  
  
Dumbledore patted her on the back for a moment before Madame Pomfrey excused herself and rushed off to her office. He then turned to Lily. Immediately he reached into his pockets to retrieve something. Lily looked intrigued when he brought out what appeared to be a dark brown stick, but she knew better. A small smile formed on her face as he walked towards her and held out his hand.  
  
"Here is your wand, Miss Evans." he said with pride in his voice. Lily bit her lip excitedly as she eagerly accepted it and stared down at it in her own hands.  
  
"Wow..." she breathed.  
  
Dumbledore chuckled then said, "Would you like me to inform Miss Potter and his crew to come down here to escort you to breakfast?"  
  
Lily thought a moment before saying politely, "No thank you, Sir. I would like to surprise them." Dumbledore nodded in understanding.  
  
"I daresay you will do more than surprise the rest of the student." He said with a chuckle. "In any case, I will be down there shortly shall you need me for anything." He checked what appeared to be a watch on his wrist, though there were no numbers on it (but he seemed to understand it anyway), and said, "Breakfast started about five minutes ago. Your friends should already be down there. Do you know the way?"  
  
Lily smiled and said, "I think so. After that little walk I had a few nights ago, I know where just a few things are. It's the room without a ceiling, right?"  
  
Dumbledore smiled with a twinkle in his eye and said, "Actually, it's just enchanted to look like that, but yes, that's the room you want. Your table, the Gryffindor table, is on your right when you first walk in. It's the second closest to the wall." he explained. They went on talking for another minute about Lily's school work before Lily thanked him for everything and walked out of the room, leaving behind a cheerful Dumbledore.  
  
As Lily walked through the halls, only a few people were walking down it. Most were already at the Great Hall since class started in 45 minutes. A boy about her age with dark brown hair and dark blue eyes was walking the other direction and looked at her, not really paying attention because he said nonchalantly, "Hi Lily."  
  
Lily looked at him, not knowing who he was but smiled nonetheless and said a perky, "Hi." Back before she passed him. He jerked his head up and turned to look at her like he had just seen a ghost. She didn't see him as she kept on walking. He kept walking backwards, looking at her in wonder, not seeing as he tripped over a trash can. Lily turned a corner and saw a few more students in this hallway.  
  
There was a group of four girls walking a few feet ahead of her, laughing a joking with one another, oblivious to Lily. There was another group of two girls and three boys walking in Lily's opposite direction. She started to feel a little apprehensive about this whole thing. What would everyone say? She didn't even know these people, though they know her. They'd expect her to be someone she didn't know how to be. The blonde girl from the group was laughing with a light brown haired boy. She looked over at Lily, still laughing, but when she really saw her, her laughter faded into confusion.  
  
'Finally' Lily thought as she came across the doors to the Great Hall. She took a deep breath and pulled the doors open. She saw a bunch of kids, laughing and joking without a care in the world. There were silver and green flags on the walls above everyone's heads. Four vertical tables were in front of her and another horizontal one up in front. She remembered with a small smile, her walk a few nights ago, seeing this place empty and deserted. The baby blue sky replacing the ceiling didn't have a cloud in it.  
  
Lily noticed that Dumbledore hadn't arrived yet. There were a few teachers up at the staff table. Professor Flitwick and a few others she didn't know yet. In the cluster of students, Lily saw Professor McGonagall scolding a few younger looking kids about something. McGonagall looked up when she realized someone was watching her. Her eyes met Lily's. She just stared, unmoving for a few seconds, before she started to smile a little. She gave Lily a little nod, which Lily returned with a smile. All the teachers in the room looked at the doors, seeing her as well. A few were shocked, but most looked happy and pleased. Dumbledore must have already informed them.  
  
The students in there didn't notice Lily's presence, too absorbed in their own conversations. She started walking, slowly and unsurely, to the Gryffindor table, which Lily remembered to be the one second to the right of the Great Hall. She started to smile when she caught James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter eating a few seats ahead. Three airheads (guess who) were looking at them with lustful eyes. A sight they promptly ignored. Sirius and James were laughing uncontrollably at something while Remus shook his head at them, trying to look stern but the twitching of his lips gave away he was trying not to smile, and Peter looked confused. A boy was walking down the same isle Lily was, eating a pastry of some kind. He looked up, staring vaguely around as though he weren't quite awake just yet.  
  
"Hey, Evans." he greeted through a yawn. Lily, still absorbed in watching her friends, looked over at him half heartedly and said politely, "Hi." The boy seemed to realize what he had just said, and who had answered him. He jerked his head up to meet her face, choked on his pastry, and accidentally dropped his pastry on the ground.  
  
His comment and actions gained some attention with some of the people from the Gryffindor table and, as Lily would soon find out, the Ravenclaw table beside them. The one's that heard the comment snapped their heads up and looked at Lily in amazement and surprise. The one's that only heard the boy's actions looked curiously over at him as he coughed and sputtered, not taking his eyes off a concerned red-head.  
  
"Are you alright?" Lily asked, turning her full attention on his, patting him on the back firmly to help him gain his breath. The entire Gryffindor table held their breath when they heard her voice and saw her reaction to someone who needed help. It really was her. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter stopped their talking when they realized how quiet it had gotten at their table. They looked around for the cause of the silence and found themselves looking straight at Lily. James jumped up and rushed over to her.  
  
"Evans?" the boy asked in awe. "It really 'is' you!" By now, most everyone had stopped talking and watched the scene at the Gryffindor table curiously. A boy from the Hufflepuff table spit out his pumpkin juice in surprise, many students dropped their food half way from their mouths. The three slutty, mean looking girls turned pale. The teachers were all on their feet in case they were needed for anything.  
  
Lily smiled a little and said, "I guess." James reached her side at that moment; he took her arm and gently guided her back to his seat with the rest, leaving the other boys still staring and sputtering after her.  
  
"Lily, what are you doing here?" Remus asked in surprise when she seated herself between James and Sirius, across from Remus and Peter.  
  
"I was released today." Lily said simply.  
  
"Pomfrey actually 'let' you out...intentionally?" Sirius asked with wide eyes.  
  
"Actually, Dumbledore did a little bit of persuading." Lily answered smiling a little. "But, yeah, I'm out for good, I have my wand," she held it up with pride, looking as though it were the greatest thing in the world, "I have my uniform, and I...don't have my books. Hmmm...well that may cause a problem." Lily muttered the last sentence, looking deep in thought.  
  
"I think that's the least of your worries, Lilz." James cut in; he motioned around the Great Hall, "Look." Lily did as she was told and saw every single person in the Great Hall staring at her. Lily promptly blushed and turned back to her friends.  
  
"Why are they all just staring?" Lily asked frantically. Then, the Great Hall broke into a chaos of chatter. They were all whispering and pointing over at her.  
  
"Hey Lily, welcome back." A boy on the other side of James said, smiling warmly, "You probably don't know who I am. I'm Frank Longbottom, a sixth year Gryffindor."  
  
Noticing Lily's confused look, James said, "We already told him about your amnesia." A look of understanding came upon Lily's face and she then smiled widely at Frank.  
  
"Oh, thank you. It's a pleasure to meet you, Frank." she said sincerely.  
  
Frank smiled back and asked, "So, you're out of the hospital wing for good?"  
  
Lily nodded and said, "Yep, Dumbledore talked Madame Pomfrey into it. He told me something about 'OWLs' and how I would need all the time I could get for them." She looked around the Great Hall again, feeling self conscious because the students had yet to take their eyes off her.  
  
"Oh, that's right." Remus exclaimed. "We've still got out OWLs. I completely forgot about those. They aren't going to hold you back a year so you'd be ready for them, are they Lils." He asked worriedly.  
  
"I don't think they are." Lily said with a shake of her head, "He told me I'd be having extra lessons after classes and my friends would probably help me with the daily stuff."  
  
Sirius, Remus, James, and Peter nodded. "Of course we'll help you. We'll do anything necessary to make sure you get top grades on the OWLs." James said without hesitation. "That's what you wanted anyway. To be at the top of the class with the OWL marks." He added, trying not to let his voice show his sadness. Lily didn't notice his tone as she reached over and grabbed a roll from a dish in front of her.  
  
"This is amazing." She said, looking at the table filled with a truck-load of food. She looked out of the corner of her eye around the Great Hall yet again.  
  
"Yeah, all the food a normal person can eat, which doesn't apply to Sirius' stomach." Remus joked.  
  
"Hey," Sirius started, mock offended, "I'm a growing boy. And growing boys need all the nutrition they can eat."  
  
James raised an eyebrow at him and said in an innocent tone, "Interesting how you use the words 'growing boy', I'm almost sure it was 'growing elephant'." Peter snorted with laughter.  
  
"Look who's talking, Prongsie old buddy." Sirius said. "At least I eat like a man." He added in a challenging way.  
  
"What are you implying?" James asked turning his head a fraction to the left, not breaking eye contact with him.  
  
Sirius smirked and said, "How would you feel about a little...wager?"  
  
James narrowed his eyes and smirked the same way, "I'm intrigued."  
  
Lily looked back and forth between the two, an eyebrow raised. Remus and Peter looked anxious.  
  
"Well then...I guess there's nothing left to say, but..." Sirius said in mock seriousness.  
  
"DIG IN!!!" they both shouted as they started to shovel food inside their mouths. Lily continued to look back and forth between the two, honestly surprised two normal sized sixteen year olds could take in that much food.  
  
As James pushed food in his mouth, he let his eyes wonder around the Great Hall. He noted with some satisfaction that most of the kids had stopped staring at Lily. 'Excellent.' He thought to himself. He winked at Sirius, who winked back.  
  
At that moment, the doors opened once again and this time, Dumbledore walked in. He caught sight of Lily laughing at James' and Sirius' antics and smiled to himself. He also noticed all of the students watching either her or the two having an eating contest. When he reached his chair next to McGonagall, he asked her, "Any problems?"  
  
"Not really, they pretty much just stared in shock at her when they realized who she was." McGonagall replied back. Dumbledore nodded.  
  
"I'm going to speak to Miss Evans for a few moments, while I'm gone with her, can you please inform every student here about her...condition?" he asked. She nodded and said, "Of course."  
  
Dumbledore stood up and said loudly over the chatter of the students, "May I please speak to Lily Evans for a few moments?" Lily looked up and nodded before she stood and walked out of the hall with the professor. When they were gone, McGonagall proceeded to inform all the students. After her speech, a lot of them had tears in their eyes. Most of the guys in the room looked as though Christmas had been cancelled. Then they thought about it a bit more and smiled as they realized they might have a better chance with Lily this way...then they thought about even 'more' and decided it was a lost cause. Now Potter, Black, and Lupin would extra special care of making sure she wasn't alone at all wherever she went, thus making it impossible for them to even attempt it.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Lily and the Marauders walked out of their last class of the day, exhausted. Lily, though, had been having the time of her life. She was jumping up and down excitedly.  
  
"That was great. It was 'so' much 'fun'." She exclaimed.  
  
"It was Potions." Sirius grumbled. "Potions isn't supposed to be fun." He had received two detentions and lost Gryffindor 50 points that day for pranking a kid named Severus Snape. And it was a 'really' weird class. It was the first time the professor showed any sign of pity towards a student. That was why when Lily looked confused at the instructions and messed up the potion the first time, the teacher didn't get mad. He simply walked over and attempted to help. Thus assuring many kids having almost heart attacks right in the middle of class.  
  
"Well, if you hadn't have set off those...er, smelly things-,"  
  
"Dungbombs" Remus supplied.  
  
"Thank you. Yes, 'dungbombs' off in that boy's cauldron, you would have never gotten detention." Lily finished.  
  
"The detention's not the one I'm worried about. It's the loosing 50 points that dampened my spirits. Plus, Snape deserved it. He kept," he shuddered before he went on, "'looking' at you throughout the entire class." Sirius muttered.  
  
Lily looked confused, "I still don't understand the 'points' for the houses."  
  
They all explained it to her, patiently.  
  
"Oh, well then I guess that is something to be mad about." Lily said with sympathy, but then went on with happier, "But, in any case, that class was 'great'. It was soooo much fun! I made James' nose grow large."  
  
James muttered sarcastically, "Ha...ha...ha"  
  
Lily went over and threw her arm around James, "Aw, James. I'm sorry, but it really 'was' funny. You have to admit that. Plus, you made my hands grow larger. And you found that 'hilarious'."  
  
James cracked a smile at the memory, "Yeah, good times."  
  
They all walked back to the Common Room, Sirius and James making Lily laugh. When they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, Lily exclaimed, "Mary!"  
  
The portrait sprung to life and said, happily, "Lily. My goodness, out of the Infirmary so quickly?"  
  
Lily smiled and said, "Yeah, with a little help from Dumbledore."  
  
"Yes, well, it is good to see you up and about." She concluded, then in a more business-like tone, she said, "Password?"  
  
"Pumpkin clusters." Remus said. The portrait opened up promptly and Lily's eyes lit up as she saw for the first time, not literally, her living quarters for the passed five years. She stared around in awe, drinking up everything in the room. Plush chairs and couches surrounded a brightly glowing fireplace. A few desks were pushed up against walls; some were occupied at the moment by seventh and fifth years. Lily noticed that everything mostly was either gold or red. Two separate staircases lead up to, Lily assumed, the girls' dormitory and the boys' dormitory.  
  
The guys noticed Lily's expression and chuckled.  
  
"Welcome home, Lilz." Sirius said merrily as James and he each put an arm around her shoulder. Her expression didn't change from a wide smile and wondering eyes.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Lily was now in her dormitory after being escorted up there by James, who had gone back down to the common room to let her rest. She looked around at the four beds, wondering which one was hers. Just then, the door opened up and in walked the three girls that were trying to gain the attention of the Marauders earlier at breakfast. The 'leader' of the group looked at her, still appearing shocked at her appearance here.  
  
"Well, look here. Like, Evans has finally decided to grace us with her presence." She said, snottily. Lily decided to ignore her tone.  
  
"Yes, hello, I don't believe I know you." Lily said pleasantly. She held out her hand to the snotty girl, expecting her to shake it.  
  
The blonde looked at her and opened her mouth, looking as though she were going to say something insulting, but decided against it. She just pursed her lips together and just said to the other two, "Like, come on," she paused and looked at Lily again, and Lily thought she could detect a sort of pitying look in her eyes, before saying, "let's just go." The other two looked a bit taken aback by her behavior, but nodded nonetheless as they followed her out the door. Lily bit her lip and shrugged her shoulders.  
  
She noticed that the trunks at the end of each bed had a name on it. She found the one saying 'Lily Evans' and walked over to it, noting with a sigh how stiff and cold it looked. Like it hadn't been used it a while. 'Well, it hadn't...' she thought to herself as she gingerly lay upon it, sighing and closing her eyes. The last thing she thought before she drifted off into dreamland was 'I feel so lost...'  
  
As she slept, she moved around a little, mumbling incoherent things. Her hand reached up for her locket and necklace, both of which were lighting up the room with pink light again.  
  
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~Dream~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~  
  
Whispering voices spoke out all around her. She was in a haze of white nothingness.  
  
~"It's a gold locket, look, inside there's picture."~  
  
~~~  
  
~"What do you want with me, Voldemort?"~ Lily jerked her head around, trying wildly to find the source of the voice.  
  
~"I want you dead."~  
  
~"Why?"~  
  
~"A prophesy. One I can terminate if I kill one of you seven."~  
  
"You 'are' the flower." a soft melody voice called out from the haze.  
  
~~~  
  
~"I have a question. Where did I get this?"~  
  
~"I got that for you for your twelfth birthday. You've never taken it off."~ "Sirius?" she whispered into the haze.  
  
"The locket...the locket...it's the key..." the soft melody voice called out. "It's the key..."  
  
And then everything went black.  
  
~^~^~^~^~^~End of Dream~^~^~^~^~^~  
  
Lily woke up to the sound of a door opening. She mumbled something that sounded like, "Key" as she opened her eyes, seeing it was getting dark in her room. She sat up to see who was in her room.  
  
"Lily?" James' voice called out.  
  
"I'm here James." Lily said as she walked over to him.  
  
"Oh, do you want to go get some food. It's dinner time." James said once he saw her in the darkness.  
  
"Sure, I'll be down in a few minutes." Lily said. "Um, do you know where the bathroom is?"  
  
"It's over there." James said, pointing to another door near them.  
  
Lily nodded and said, "Thanks, James. I'm just going to do freshen up. I won't be long." James nodded and left the room.  
  
When Lily got downstairs, the Marauders all stood up from where they were sitting on the couch and chairs and walked over to her.  
  
"Shall we?" Sirius said, holding his elbow out to her, which she accepted with a wide smile.  
  
"We shall." She said, taking James' elbow with her other hand.  
  
"In that case," Remus said in a fake, extremely deep voice, "Onward men!" They all marched out of the common room, down to dinner.  
  
Lily's dream was long forgotten.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N- the next chapter should be a little more interesting than this one. Well, thanks everyone for reading and reviewing. I hope you all liked this chapter. 


	27. Dreams Becoming Reality

Previously:  
  
When Lily got downstairs, the Marauders all stood up from where they were sitting on the couch and chairs and walked over to her.  
  
"Shall we?" Sirius said, holding his elbow out to her, which she accepted with a wide smile.  
  
"We shall." She said, taking James' elbow with her other hand.  
  
"In that case," Remus said in a fake, extremely deep voice, "Onward men!" They all marched out of the common room, down to dinner.  
  
Lily's dream was long forgotten.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Er..." Lily struggled as she held her wand to the piece of parchment.  
  
"Come on, Lily. You can do it." Remus urged. She and Remus had been in the library for the past hour, trying to re-teach Lily how to do the levitating spell. She was getting frustrated and tired after all this studying.  
  
It was two weeks since she'd been out of the hospital wing. Every day after class, she was expected to go back to the teachers she had had earlier that day for a more in-depth lesson. After those tutoring sessions, she was pulled into the ones with the Marauders. They would each teach her different subjects on a lower grade level.  
  
They were each in charge of one subject. Sirius was teaching her Defense Against the Dark every Monday night, James was teaching her Transfiguration every Tuesday night, Peter, surprisingly, was her teaching Potions every Wednesday night. Tonight was Thursday, meaning Remus was teaching her Charms. They all worked together every Friday night to teach her Divination and Astrology and Ancient Runes.  
  
This was all becoming too much for Lily. All work nonstop since she was back. She barely had a moment to herself. What's worse was that every night, she would never accomplish the spells they asked her to. She was beginning to doubt all of this stuff and herself.  
  
Lily sighed, defeated, let go of her wand, and dropped her arm to her side. "This is too hard, Remus." she declared sadly. Then, she went on helplessly, "What am I thinking? I'm not cut out to be a witch!"  
  
"Sure you are, Lily. You were the best witch of our year. Probably the best in this school." Remus argued.  
  
"'Were' being the key word, Remus." Lily argued back, "I 'was' the best witch in this school. But-," She paused, then, shaking her head stubbornly, she said quietly, "I'm not anymore.  
  
"Lily, please, just try again. I'm sure you'll get a hang of it." Remus begged.  
  
"No, Remus." Lily said dejectedly, "The...what are they called...the OWLs are coming up in 3 months and I can't even do a simple spell. I'm already wasting everyone's time. Time which could be used for decent wizards such as yourselves to study for something that 'you' know you can actually pass." By this time, she was starting to grow hysterical.  
  
"Lily," Remus tried again desperately, "Come on. You 'will' understand all of this soon. All it takes is a little practice."  
  
Lily got up, her eyes lowered, feeling like a disgrace, "No, Remus." She sighed sadly, she looked up and Remus saw tears forming in the corners of her dull, lost green eyes, "Don't try to lift my spirits. You know as well as I know that this is just a waste of time." She paused, "Let's face it. Everyone knows that, without my memory, I am just a lost cause." Without another word, she rushed out of the Library and sprinted down the hall.  
  
"Lily!" Remus called out as he jumped out of his seat and ran after her, leaving behind all their books and parchment. He saw her turn a corner from ahead. The second he turned the same corner, she was no where to be seen. He sighed softly to himself and turned back around, heading back to the library to pick up their stuff, then towards the Gryffindor tower. This was the first time he heard Lily ever argue with anyone, let alone him. He could tell he'd need a little more help on this one.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Tears started to stream down Lily's face as she slowed down to a steady walk. She silently berated herself for acting so childish. After all, it wasn't Remus' or anyone else's fault she didn't remember anything. It's just the pressure was building up inside of her and she didn't know what to do about it.  
  
She hated feeling like this. So empty and lost. It was eating her up inside. Sure, she kept up a happy face when she talked to different people in the hallway. They all told her how happy they were to have her back. But then, as soon as Lily politely asked who they were, there was no mistaking the look of confusion quickly replaced by pity and guilt.  
  
That was another thing. The guilt. Why was everyone acting so shameful? Like they did something wrong. All these bottled up questions!  
  
She was letting everyone down. She knew it. They expected her to be someone else. And no matter how much she tried...  
  
Ugh! Lily brought her hands up to her head in frustration, practically pulling out her hair. Why won't the answers come out!  
  
She collapsed right where she was, in the middle of the hall. Slowly, she pulled herself closer to the wall on the side. That was where she let it all out. She banged her feet on the floor occasionally as she sobbed heart- wrenchingly. She cried for her frustrations, for her guilt, for their pity, for her dead parents she didn't remember, for everyone that had to feel the same pain she felt.  
  
After five minutes, Lily calmed down and steadied her breathing and heart rate. Crying wasn't going to get her anywhere. She wiped the tears away and looked around at her surroundings. Not recognizing anything, she started to panic a little. She jumped a little when she heard a noise from down the hall.  
  
Startled, she dragged herself to her feet. Maybe it was someone who knew the way back to the Gryffindor common room. She walked a little ways towards the source of the noise. It sounded like footsteps. Unconsciously grabbing her locket and flower necklace, she made out a figure walking towards her.  
  
"Hello?" she called out timidly. As the person walked nearer, Lily realized it was a boy around her age with greasy black hair and a hooked nose. He was wearing a sneer on his face until he saw her. His expression changed from hatefulness to surprise.  
  
"Evans." He said simply. "What are you doing down here?"  
  
"I-I got lost. Do you know the way to the Gryffindor tower?" she asked, trying to sound pleasant.  
  
"You don't recognize me, do you?" he said, sounding more like a statement then a question. His cold, harsh voice stung her as his eyes seemed to pierce right through her soul.  
  
Nevertheless, Lily smiled a little apologetically and said softly, "No, I'm sorry I don't. What's your name?"  
  
He was about to answer when he got a weird look across his face. He then said in a more pleasant, yet sly voice, "I am Severus Snape...your boyfriend."  
  
Lily felt as though the wind was knocked right out of her. Her boyfriend? This guy was her boyfriend?  
  
"You're my boyfriend?" she asked incredulously.  
  
Snape nodded smoothly, "Yes, of course, darling. We have been dating for two years."  
  
"Well...uh, wow." Lily stuttered confused.  
  
"Well, that doesn't matter." Snape cut in, smirking. "Would you like to go for a walk with me? I'm sure we have lots to catch up on."  
  
Lily bit her lip. Something wasn't right about all this. A guy walks up to her and tells her that he is her boyfriend of two years. Why didn't he come to her sooner? Why wasn't he in the hospital wing with her?  
  
She faintly noticed that he took her arm and guided her out a door to the coldness of winter. She didn't feel right. There was something bugging her.  
  
They walked to a tree near the lake. That was when Lily thought about something abruptly. The Marauders had told her she didn't have a boyfriend the day she woke up and confused them for one of her boyfriends. Peter had told her that, specifically.  
  
"Wait a minute." She said suspiciously to Snape, "My friends told me I didn't have a boyfriend."  
  
Snape's pasty, sickly colored face seemed to pale. But only for a minute, "That doesn't mean you can't have one." He said in a dangerously low voice as he stepped closer to her. She back up until she felt the tree they were near blocking her path. He put both his hands on either side of her, preventing escape.  
  
She widened her eyes in worry. Snape just smirked, seeing her nervousness. "What's wrong, Lily?" he asked. He leaned closer and Lily turned her head, closing her eyes firmly. He whispered in her ear, sending uneasy shudders up and down her spine, "Am I scaring you?"  
  
"Leave me alone." Lily said, her voice shaking a little.  
  
"And if I don't? What, will you hex me? Oh wait," he said quietly, mocking pity, "You can't, can you? Don't even have your wand with you, do you?"  
  
"I don't need a wand for some things." Lily said quietly, right before she kneed him in a not-so-pleasant place. He gasped and doubled over, momentarily forgetting Lily, who was at attempting to get away. Unfortunately, Snape recovered quickly and grabbed her by the shoulders, moving her back to the tree.  
  
"You never could hold your own, Evans. Always needing rescuing by your own personal saviors." He said coldly. She was about to reply when she was muffled by Snape kissing her forcefully. Lily almost gagged at the smell that rose to her nose. He smelled like grease and faintly of rotten eggs. Immediately, Lily showed great strength when she pushed his arms out of her way and held him back. She punched him in the face with all she could muster. His face whipped to the right, but he didn't fall. She hit him again, surprisingly harder and he fell back, clutching his nose, which had started to bleed at a rapid speed.  
  
"Never underestimate me." She spat out, breathlessly, "That old Lily is gone. And until she returns, the new Lily is going to stay."  
  
"Lily." She heard someone shout from a little ways away. She whirled around and saw all four Marauders heading her way. She breathed a sigh of relief. She ran and hugged James and Peter fiercely, leaving Remus and Sirius to pick Snape up off the ground.  
  
"Holy crap, Lily! Did you do that?" Sirius asked, sounding impressed, seeing Snape's face.  
  
Lily nodded to him, still trying to catch her breath.  
  
"What the hell did you do to her?" James demanded aggressively to Snape.  
  
Lily spoke though, "He kissed me. He-he tried to...to" She said faintly. Even though she didn't continue, the Marauders could guess what she was about to say  
  
James, with narrowed eyes at Snape, spoke softly and gently to her, "It's alright, Lils. He can't do anything more to you."  
  
She looked at Snape square in the face, noticing just how gruesome and gross he looked. And he kissed her! Her face paled and she placed a hand on her stomach and one over her mouth. "Ugh, I think I'm going to be sick."  
  
"Remus, you and Peter take Lily up to the common room. Sirius and I have to take care of something." James said, not taking his eyes off Snape. Remus nodded and obliged with Peter as they made their way across the lawn with Lily.  
  
~*~*~*~*~20 Minutes later~*~*~*~*~  
  
Remus and Peter were in their dormitory, waiting for James and Sirius to return. They heard the running shower in their bathroom cease. Lily had been quite upset when they reached the common room. Not wanting to leave her alone, Remus and Peter took her up to their dormitory. She immediately asked if she could take a shower. The image of Snape's face and realizing what had happened moments before had plastered themselves into her mind. The two agreed and she told them she'd return soon.  
  
She came back a minute later with her pajamas in hand and walked into their bathroom. Now, fifteen minutes later, Remus looked up from his book and Peter looked up from his Potions homework when they saw Lily emerge from the bathroom, sporting pink pajama bottoms with clouds and moons on them and a white tank top. She was toweling her auburn tresses with one of their towels. She looked tired, but smiled slightly at them.  
  
"Thanks for letting me use your bathroom." She said softly.  
  
"No problem, Lily." Remus said gently as she sat down on his bed. "You ok?" he asked.  
  
Lily took a deep breath, but nodded after a minute, "Yeah, I think so."  
  
Peter smiled suddenly and said, "You know, I think you may have broken his nose."  
  
"No kidding, did you see all that blood. He looked like he was going to cry." Remus said, chuckling. Peter joined in. Lily smiled sheepishly, a faint blush creeping to her cheeks.  
  
Just then, the door opened and James and Sirius walked in, looking pleased with themselves. Lily jumped up and rushed over to them.  
  
"What happened?" she asked apprehensively.  
  
"Let's just say that Snape may have trouble walking into a boy's bathroom again." Sirius said. Lily raised an eyebrow in question.  
  
"He may need to use a 'girl's' bathroom from now on." James specified. Lily widened her eyes. Then, she started to laugh along with Remus and Peter.  
  
Five minutes later, all five of them were all seated on the dormitory floor in a circle, Lily beside Sirius and James.  
  
"How did you guys find me?" she asked after their laughs subsided.  
  
"The Marauder's map." Sirius explained, holding out a torn up piece of parchment to her. Lily took it and stared at it, confused.  
  
"Say the words, 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good.'" Remus instructed.  
  
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Lily repeated. Immediately, to her astonishment, the parchment turned into a map of what appeared to be all of Hogwarts. Not only that, but there was little dots popping up all around the map, saying names such as McGonagall, or Dumbledore, or Frank Longbottom.  
  
"This is amazing." Lily breathed out softly. The guys all exchanged amused glances when they saw her admiration.  
  
"Lily," Remus started, sounding serious, "I'm sorry for pushing you to do the spell. I shouldn't have been so impatient."  
  
"It's not your fault, Remus." Lily said, shaking her head, "I shouldn't have run off. I was acting like a baby," She looked at all of them and continued, "to all of you. I know you all are trying your hardest and sacrificing many hours of potential study time just for me."  
  
"Lily, you have to understand," James started, "We don't think of it as a sacrifice. We only think of it as friends helping out another friend in need. Trust us; you would be doing the same thing if one of us were in your shoes."  
  
Lily sighed, she knew he was right, "I know. It's just I feel so guilty. And frustrated," she went on, venting out all her aggravations to them. "I just feel like I can't do anything right. It's all becoming very stressful."  
  
After a moment of thought, Remus said, "You know, I think I know what you need." She looked over at him, inquiringly, "Why don't we just have a stress-free rest of the week. No more tutoring sessions tonight or tomorrow. How about, instead, we all just have a sort of...what do you girls call it...slumber party." They all looked at him like he was mad. He decided to explain himself, "Hear me out. Ok, not a 'total' slumber party with makeovers and nail paintings" Lily snorted with laughter at the image that popped into her mind when he said that, "but, we could have all the junk food we can eat and I dunno..." Remus trailed off uncertainly.  
  
"That's BRILLIANT, Moony." Sirius exclaimed, causing them to all jump at his outburst, "And we can also have 'Girl Talk'," he went on excitedly, "I also wanted to do that."  
  
"Alright, I'm beginning to fear for Sirius' sanity." James announced with a raised eyebrow.  
  
"Well, that sounds great." Lily said happily, "Even the...Girl Talk. But, isn't it against school rules for this?" she asked skeptically.  
  
They simply shrugged, "When have we ever worried about rules. Plus, I think they would probably understand, in your case. We can just tell them that you...I dunno, forgot where your dormitory was." Sirius said nonchalantly. Lily nodded indifferently.  
  
"Tonight or tomorrow?" she asked.  
  
"Tomorrow's probably better with the weekend and all." Peter said. They all nodded and continued talking for a while.  
  
"Oh I should get going." Lily said. "It's already eleven o'clock." So, they all said goodnight to her and she walked off to her own dormitory.  
  
When she got there, she saw the three other girls sitting on one of their beds. They looked up when she came in. Cassandra just stared, an unreadable expression upon her face, at her while the other two went back to painting their toenails. A minute later, Cassandra looked down as well and continued with her toenails. Lily just shrugged at her behavior and walked mutely to her bed and fell asleep instantly, pulled into the same dream she had been having for the past two weeks, each dream going more and more into detail. She never knew that every time she had this dream, her necklaces would both light up. As well as the necklaces she had given Sirius, James, and Remus.  
  
~*~*~*~Dream~*~*~*~  
  
Whispering voices spoke out all around her. She was in a haze of white nothingness.  
  
~"It's a gold locket, look, inside there's picture."~  
  
~~~  
  
~"What do you want with me, Voldemort?"~ Lily jerked her head around, trying wildly to find the source of the voice.  
  
~"I want you dead."~  
  
~"Why?"~  
  
~"A prophesy. One I can terminate if I kill one of you seven."~  
  
"You 'are' the flower." a soft melody voice called out from the haze.  
  
~~~  
  
~"I have a question. Where did I get this?"~  
  
~"I got that for you for your twelfth birthday. You've never taken it off."~ "Sirius?" she whispered into the haze.  
  
"The locket...the locket...it's the key..." the soft melody voice called out. "It's the key..."  
  
And then everything went black.  
  
As the haze started to clear and she was walking through the Gryffindor common room.  
  
She was in her light green pajama bottoms with a matching white top. The locket and necklace she was wearing were glowing a soft pink. Someone was tugging at her, but she didn't notice. She walked out the portrait hole, as though in a trance. Lily walked down the hall.  
  
She continued walking through halls and soon she walked into a door. Someone else was talking to her, their voice sounding pitiful and depressed, but Lily paid the person no attention. She walked straight up to a sink and said something she didn't recognize as being real words. Her voice sounded odd and cold. Suddenly, the sink-  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Lily woke up to the sound of giggling. Soon, the door opened and shut, ceasing the giggles from her roommates. All thoughts of her dream left her as she got up and stretched.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The day passed quickly for Lily, who was giddy and excited for the slumber party tonight. She knew it wouldn't be like a real one, but it was a party nonetheless. And it was really sweet of the guys to do this for her.  
  
So, walking out of Charms, the last subject of the day, Lily was practically bouncing up and down, oblivious from the stares she got from her male admirers in that class.  
  
"Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" She exclaimed.  
  
James laughed at her antics. He kissed her forehead, and act that everyone was used to. No one had any clue about James' crush on Lily, and he intended to keep it that way. Though, he had a suspicion that Sirius may have some doubt about that. He had heard James' on some nights calling out the word 'Lily'. The only reason he didn't tease him about it was because he knew that if he was wrong about his assumptions, James would be furious at him for thinking that about he and his best girl friend.  
  
"So what's the plan? Do we start it right now? It seems a little early for that, don't you think." Lily said all this quickly.  
  
Remus laughed and said, "How about we go down to the lake and just hang out down there for now. It's pretty nice outside for the first time this year." And that was true. It was the first sunny, warm day since winter started. All day long, kids looked longingly out the windows of their classrooms, wishing they could be out there instead of inside.  
  
So the five agreed and they walked out into the warm sunlight.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Around six o'clock, they all went inside due to the sun setting. They decided not to go to dinner; they would grab some other stuff later on during the night and pig out.  
  
"Lily, how about you grab some clothes and pj's and stuff and meet us up in the dormitory around 6:30." Remus suggested. Lily nodded and walked up to her own dormitory. When she got there, she noticed Cassandra there with the two others. They were flipping through fashion magazines and barely looked up when she entered the room.  
  
Lily didn't really mind. She simply pulled out a duffle bag she found in her trunk and began to sort through all her clothes, wondering what she would be wearing the next day. Cassandra glanced up from her magazine and asked in a semi-civilized voice, "Where are you going?"  
  
The questioned surprised Lily, who had thought nobody would even notice what she was doing, let alone talk to her, "Oh, a slumber party." She answered politely with a small smile.  
  
That seemed to be the end of an almost-conversation. Cassandra looked back down at her magazine without another word and began to read. Lily shrugged and began to pack once again. Thirty minutes later, she walked up to the boys' 5th year dormitory and knocked.  
  
Remus answered the door. "Lily, come on in." he widened it and let her enter. She saw that they had decorated the room. A big banner was hanging from the ceiling that said, 'Lily's Cheering Up Slumber Party'. Lily felt her heart swell up at that. Her friends were so great!  
  
"You guyssss." Lily said, touched. She hugged them each, "You guys are the best." she announced.  
  
"Anything for our Flower." Remus said affectionately.  
  
"Enough of this sap." Sirius said after a moment, "Pretty soon we're gonna start doing makeovers and painting each other's toenails if we keep this up." He joked. Lily laughed and set her stuff down.  
  
"What do we do first?" she asked as they all sat down on the floor in a circle like they did last night.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Lily laughed and said, "You really did that?!"  
  
"Hey, it was for the good of the Marauders." Sirius said, mock indignantly, "Anyone of you guys would have done it for the rest of us." They were all sitting in a circle still, in their pajamas. Remus had a white muscle shirt on with midnight blue pajama pants, Peter had a large T-shirt and red pajama pants on. Sirius and James had no shirts on (A/N- *drools*) and James had black cotton pajama pants on and Sirius had grey running pants on. Lily had on a white tank top with matching pale green pajama bottoms.  
  
"I dunno Padfoot." James started, "I think you may be the only one crazy and have the guts to actually sleep under Snape's bed. All for a prank, too."  
  
Sirius narrowed his eyes, faking anger, "Hey, if I didn't do that, I would have been caught and the whole plan would have backfired."  
  
That caused everyone, including Sirius, to burst out laughing once again. Everyone heard Peter's stomach growl loudly and laugh more.  
  
"Oh wow. It's already 11:45." Lily said, seeing her watch.  
  
"I'm real hungry." Peter moaned, clutching his stomach.  
  
"Me too." Sirius agreed. The rest all said the same things.  
  
"Padfoot and I will go down to the kitchens and stock up on food. We'll be back quick." James said as he and Sirius snuck off under James' invisibility cloak.  
  
Lily, Remus, and Peter just sat where they were and talked and joked around, waiting for them to return.  
  
"Yeah, then they said-," Remus said, but stopped abruptly when Lily's watch started to play a little tune. It was 12 midnight.  
  
But that wasn't what stopped Remus from finishing his story.  
  
"Lily? You alright?" Peter asked, noticing what Remus was looking at.  
  
Lily's eyes looked sort of dazed. She sat up straight, stiff as a board, with a blank expression on her face. Remus and Peter saw her two necklaces starting to glow. And, to Remus' astonishment, his as well. Peter looked like he was ready to pee his pants in fright.  
  
"What's going on?" he squeaked.  
  
Remus, with his mouth hanging open, just shook his head confused. "I don't know. Lily?"  
  
She didn't answer. She didn't even look like she had heard him. Suddenly, she stood up like a robot. Remus and Peter exchanged confused looks and stood up as well.  
  
"Uh, Lily? Where are you going?" Remus asked, not really expecting an answer. And not to his surprise, she just walked to the door and started to walk down the stairs. Remus followed and Peter stayed behind.  
  
When she reached the common room, she walked towards the entrance hole. Remus prayed that Sirius and James walk through there at that moment. But, of course, they didn't.  
  
He started to tug on her shirt, trying to get her to stop. She paid him no attention as she walked out the portrait hole. Remus followed her though and tried to stop her again.  
  
"Lily, I'm going to get the headmaster for help." He said, almost warningly. That caused her to stop abruptly and turn slowly around. Remus felt his heart speed up when he saw the vacant expression and hollow eyes on her face.  
  
Without a word, Lily raised her hand slightly and made a circle movement with the palm of her hand. Remus fell asleep instantly in front of the sleeping portrait of the fat lady.  
  
Lily turned back around, unfazed by anything, and continued walking down halls. She soon reached a door and pushed it open. She was in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and the latter chose that moment to pop up from one of the stalls.  
  
"Come to make fun of poor Moaning Myrtle?" she whimpered.  
  
When Lily didn't reply, she got angry and said, "Oh, I suppose that since I am dead, it is alright to ignore me and act like I am not there. Just like when I was alive."  
  
Lily walked up to one of the sinks in the middle of the room and said something to it. Her voice was hard and cold, sounding like a snake's slither. Moaning Myrtle widened her eyes and flew back into her toilet when she saw the stalls begin to move.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N- well, that is the end of that chapter. I hope you all liked it. Please review! To answer 'reas chen's question, I kind of made a little error on that. It's really supposed to be September 1st, not October first. I'm so sorry about the mix-up.  
  
*The sink lowered and then there was a big hole in the ground.  
  
*"Sirius, you sure there's anything left? I think you may have eaten  
all of Honeydukes."  
  
*"James, your necklace is glowing!"  
  
*"Huh? Lily...where's Lily?"  
  
*"Let's check the map."  
  
*"Peter, go get Dumbledore!"  
  
*"Come my dear. Right over here."  
  
*"Huh? What? Where am I? Who are you?"  
  
*"Do you want your memory back, my dear."  
  
*"You're...you're Voldemort, aren't you?"  
  
*"Put the locket in the bowl!"  
  
*She then ran forward and knocked the bowl to the ground.  
  
AND to JerseyGirl03, Evenstar, and bebe-chrissy, Lily will be getting her memory back very soon! No worries! 


	28. A Quarrel With Voldemort

Previously:  
  
Lily walked up to one of the sinks in the middle of the room and said something to it. Her voice was hard and cold, sounding like a snake's slither. Moaning Myrtle widened her eyes and flew back into her toilet when she saw the stalls begin to move.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Lily just stood there absently. Her necklaces were lighting up the dimly lit bathroom. The noise in the room was rather loud, but it didn't faze her one bit. The sink she had spoken to seemed to be the only one moving. While the others just stayed the same way, that sink lowered and then there was a big hole in the ground. Without hesitation, Lily walked robotically forward and dropped into the hole.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
From another part of the castle, James and Sirius were goofing off and joking around as quietly as they could without being caught by Filch.  
  
"Geez, Sirius, you sure there's anything left?" James said when he saw Sirius gobble up two candy bars at once. Sirius stopped his actions, a pastry halfway to his mouth, and looked at James dumbly. James rolled his eyes and said exasperatedly, "Stop eating all the food. I think you may have eaten all of Honeydukes already."  
  
Sirius just smirked and said in a little boy voice, "But mummy, I'm a growing boy." James snorted with laughter and Sirius laugh jollily as they continued their way back to the Gryffindor tower.  
  
"We'd better shut up or Filch will definitely catch-." James started to whisper as they walked up the stairs, nearing closer to the portrait of the fat lady, but didn't get a chance to when Sirius cut in.  
  
"James, your necklace is glowing!" James looked down, startled to find that indeed Sirius was right. His necklace 'was' glowing blood red. Noticing something else, James snapped his head up and widened his eyes.  
  
"So is your!" he exclaimed, not caring if anyone caught them anymore. Sirius looked down as James did and gasped. His was glowing a bright blue.  
  
"What the bloody hell is going on?" Sirius yelled.  
  
"I don't know, but we have to get back to the tower. Maybe Lily would know something. After all, she bought these for us." James replied frantically as they both ran under the invisibility cloak the rest of the way.  
  
When they got to the portrait, they were met with another surprising sight. Remus was sprawled around on the ground, appearing to be sleeping. That wasn't all. His necklace was glowing a pale yellow color.  
  
"This is beyond weird." Sirius muttered as James dropped to the ground and began shaking Remus.  
  
"Remus! Moony, buddy, you alright?" James shouted. The fat lady woke up with a start and looked at the scene around her. Muttering about reckless kids, she fell back to sleep instantly.  
  
Remus moaned as he opened his eyes, looking dazed and confused. James was still shaking him as he muttered "Huh?" then, in a more bold, stern voice, he exclaimed "Lily...where's Lily?"  
  
James looked at Sirius and they exchanged confused glances. Sirius looked back down at Remus and asked, bewildered "Isn't she in our dormitory?"  
  
Remus, now fully awake, shook his head wildly and started to explain what had been going on since they left for Honeydukes. The blood drained from both James' and Sirius' faces as he continued with the story.  
  
"She just...left, like a zombie?" James asked.  
  
Remus shook his head, "I don't know. It sure seemed that way. She walked out of here, seeming to not even notice I was talking to her, but when I mentioned that I was going to get Dumbledore for help..." he trailed off.  
  
"She somehow put you to sleep." Sirius finished for him, bewildered.  
  
"But that wasn't all." Remus continued, the other two looked at him, "Right before I fell unconscious, I saw a green snake with glowing red eyes standing in the place of Lily."  
  
James and Sirius fell silent as they both took thoughtful expression on their faces; an act that would have been simply hilarious to Remus if it weren't such a serious topic.  
  
"What do you think is going on?" Remus asked James after a moment, still a little weak from the sleeping curse.  
  
"I don't know." James said, shaking his head perplexed. "But, I do know one thing. Lily is somewhere in the castle, most likely in danger...and it sounds like Voldemort may have something to do with it."  
  
"You're right." Remus answered, an understanding look on his face, soon to be replaced by a fearful look, "How are we going to find her?"  
  
"I think we are all forgetting one little thing." Sirius said with a confident gleam now in his eye. The two looked at him, questioningly. "Let's check the map." James and Remus looked like they were just told the answer to a hard problem.  
  
"Oh duh!" James shouted as he jumped up and said the password to the grumpy fat lady, and ran in with Remus and Sirius following close on his heel.  
  
He flew up the stairs to his dormitory and burst open the door. As he noticing Peter shaking with fear, he ran to his chest and took out the map. Remus and Sirius crowded around and Peter stood up from his bed curiously.  
  
"James, Sirius, what's going on?" Peter whimpered.  
  
"Dunno Pete." James mumbled, studying the map he was holding intently.  
  
Sirius sighed, frustrated and said, "I'm not seeing her, Prongs." Remus shook his head, agreeing with Sirius. James groaned and dropped his hands to his sides.  
  
"What are we going to do? We 'have' to find her." Remus asked seriously.  
  
James put his hands up to his face, groaning again. A few seconds later, he exclaimed, "Peter, go get Dumbledore! Tell him the whole story about Lily turning all robotic and walking out of the dormitory to someplace. And also tell him that this is Voldemort's doing." Peter nodded, shaking slightly in fear and scampered off. "Remus, Sirius," James said, turning his attention to the other two, "You two and I will separate and see if we can find her. If one of us does locate her, bring her straight to Dumbledore's office." They all broke out into a run, leaving their dormitory down the steps and out the portrait hole again, amidst the Fat Lady's shouts of protesting youngsters these days and their lack of respect.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Lily fell through the hole at incredible speed, an action that would make any person in their right mind scream in fear or alarm, but Lily just kept her blank face, hair whipping around her face. Not even blinking once.  
  
The next second, Lily was on the ground. Mindlessly, she got to her feet and started walking expertly through the pitch black with the exception of her glowing necklaces. She turned non-visible corners, ducked under short walls, without once bumping into anything.  
  
In the background, someone might hear the sound of water dripping, other than that, all the sound that was made was Lily's feet.  
  
It took about fifteen minutes before she got to a place that wasn't completely black. As she turned another corner, she stopped her walking suddenly.  
  
In front of her was a large open area, rocks and dirt and stone as walls, and a large puddle of water in front of a stone-built snake. Not showing any sign that she was aware of any of this, Lily just stood there, stiff as a robot.  
  
There was a man dress in black robes, standing close to the water, observing something in a large bowl standing in front of him. The bowl was a murky grey, perched upon a snake shaped stand. Lightness was reflecting upon the man's face when he looked into it.  
  
The man himself was more of a snake as well. Two slits and red orbs were acting as eyes and a nose for the face. He was smirking before he suddenly said, without looking up from the bowl, "I was expecting you." He looked up, still smirking coldly and said, "Come, my dear." He motioned his hands over to his side. She moved robotically over to him. "Yes, right over here."  
  
When she was by his side, he turned back to the bowl. Without a word, he snapped his fingers. Lily suddenly gasped and shook her head, appearing as though she just woke up. Her eyes were no longer blank and her expression was one of shock and confusion. She looked around dazedly.  
  
"Huh? What?" she breathed out. Looking at her surrounding, she whispered, feeling a little scared and nervous, "Where am I?" It was then she noticed there was another man in the large area, standing next to her with his back turned to her. Frowning, and narrowing her eyes, she asked a little more boldly, "Who are you?"  
  
He smirked and turned around, causing her to gasp at his appearance. "Why, hello, my dear. Feeling better?" She didn't realize the cold, sarcastic tone he was using.  
  
"I guess. What happened?" she asked, still glancing around the unpleasant surrounding.  
  
"Tell me, my dear," he started, not bothering to answer her questions. A twisted smile started to form on his face as he looked at her frightened expression, "Do you want your memory back?"  
  
That caught her attention immediately. Looking at him cautiously, she asked, "How do you know about that?"  
  
"All you have to do to get your memory back," he said smoothly, intentionally not answering her question, "Is put that necklace in this bowl." He pointed to her pink glowing locket then to the bowl he was looking into. Lily instinctively grabbed both necklaces and held them tight. His lips curled and he said in an impatient voice, "Do it if you want your memory back."  
  
Lily, biting her lip unsurely, unclasped her locket. Holding it in her hand, she looked at it uncertainly. She looked back up at the man, who was sneering at her while she wasn't looking, but changed his expression quickly to one of consideration when he saw her looking at him. Hesitantly, she stepped over to the large bowl. She was about ready to drop the locket in when she abruptly stopped asked the now annoyed and irritated man, suspiciously, "How did you know about my amnesia? And 'who' are you?!"  
  
The man now gave into his rage "How," the man said as though it were obvious, "It is because 'I' am the one that took your memory from you in the first place. Don't you remember?" he asked mockingly.  
  
"Who are you?!" she demanded nervously, clutching her locket as tight as she could in her hand. Her breaths started to come in ragged, short gasps as she back away from him in fright.  
  
He sneered, starting to grow angry. "I am the person that will cause your destruction. The man who is feared by all!"  
  
Her eyes widened and she put a hand up to her mouth to stifle a scream that was threatening to erupt, "You're...you're Voldemort, aren't you?" she said breathlessly, her face paling considerably as her eyes quickly darted around the area for any chance of escape.  
  
Voldemort smirked coldly and said, "Such courage. A Mudblood like yourself dares to call me by my name."  
  
Lily looked back at him, glaring hatefully, "Thanks to you, I have no reason to fear your name. I can't remember 'why' I would fear you, now would I?" She was inwardly begging he fall for her trap. She thought she had succeeded for a moment.  
  
Voldemort's face twisted into a warped smile and he said as he took his wand out, "Well, my dear Mudblood, I believe your right. You really 'do' have no reason to fear me. Would you like me to fix that for you so you can be properly afraid?" 'Yes!' she thought to herself, 'It worked! He's going to give me my memory!' But then...  
  
Voldemort started to laugh. It was such a cruel laugh; shudders went up and down Lily's spine. It sounded like fingernails scratching on a chalkboard. "Or," he went on, "I could help you create some 'new' memories. One's that will result in you defiantly fearing me." Lily's eyes widened again in horror.  
  
"Crucio." He spat. The reaction happened instantly. She fell to the ground, twitching with absolute pain. It was like a thousand knives were piercing her skin simultaneously. Her mind tried to force herself not to scream, but her body acted on its own and soon she was letting out ear-shattering cries and tears were streaming down her face. Then, just as suddenly as the pain started, it stopped. She was breathing heavily on the ground, too weak to stand at the moment.  
  
"Is that enough to fear, Mudblood?" he spat out. She didn't answer, just panting as though she couldn't get enough precious oxygen to her lungs.  
  
A few seconds later, she managed to get to her feet. She swayed a bit, but she balanced herself immediately.  
  
"What do you want from me?" she demanded weakly.  
  
Voldemort pretended to think about that for a second. "Well, my goodness. I guess, despite the prophesy, I could ask you to join the dark side, but I think I probably already know the answer."  
  
"Never." Lily answered defiantly.  
  
"Yes," Voldemort said in a low frosty voice, "I expected that much. So, now all I want with you is to 'die'."  
  
Lily panicked for a moment, and then said in a shaky voice, "You don't really think that everyone will just forget about me." In a louder, more forceful voice, "People 'will' realize I am gone, and when they do, they will know it was you. Dumbledore will know right away what happened."  
  
"And what will he do about it, hmm?" he asked in a mock-sympathetic voice, "Do you think he'll come up to me and slap me on the wrist for my bad behavior? I've got news for you, filthy Mudblood; he won't be able to do a thing about it. I have been killing people for quite sometime now, without being caught once. I think I just 'might' get away this time.  
  
"After all," he continued, smirking once more, "I did get away with murdering your parents."  
  
Lily clenched her jaw, eyes filling with tears. So that was how her parents died. In the hands of this maniac.  
  
"But," Voldemort said faking thoughtfulness, "I suppose I 'could' let you live. All you would have to do is put your locket in the bowl."  
  
Lily was again aware of the locket she held firm in her hand. Why was this so imperative to him? It must be something big.  
  
Well, if it so important to him...  
  
"Not a chance." She said loudly, and boldly.  
  
Voldemort sneered and shouted so loudly that Lily could here it vibrate against the rocky walls, "Put the locket in the bowl!"  
  
Lily jumped a little in alarm. Closing her eyes, swallowing hard, and taking deep breaths to stop her panting, she put her locket safely in the pocket of her pajama bottoms. Opening her eyes defiantly, she shouted just as loud as he did moments before, "NO!" She then ran forward and knocked the bowl to the ground. An act both extremely brave and daring...or extremely dumb and stupid.  
  
When the bowl hit the ground, it shattered to a million pieces and what appeared to be billions of transparent images started to fly around the area.  
  
"NOOOO!!!" Voldemort shouted. Lily stared around in wonder. The images were like pictures, moving pictures that made actual noises. All the pictures started to move around her, spinning so quickly that it made a bright, transparent white funnel around just her head. All the talking from the images created a buzzing sound when they were all together. Lily gasped, feeling overwhelmed.  
  
She caught a look at one of the pictures and saw a little girl that resembled herself, talking to a little boy that looked like James, in a tree house. Lily heard what the two were saying.  
  
~~~  
  
""James, please don't go. You're my bestest friend."  
  
"I know. You're my bestest friend too, flower. But I have to go. Don't worry. We can always write to each other. And who knows, maybe one day, I'll be back."  
  
"(Sniff) ok James. Bye"  
  
"Bye"  
  
~~~  
  
She gasped. 'James? So it is him. That must mean...my memories!' she thought to herself incredulously. The images were her memories that were floating around her head!  
  
Then, one by one, each image started to go into her ears. She grasped her head with both hands, fell to her knees, closed her eyes tightly, and gasped at the tremendous, lifting feeling she got. Overwhelming feelings took over her body as she started to remember, second by second, each little detail of her life. Despite her eyes being closed, she could tell that the lightness seemed to darken around her.  
  
Then, all of her immense feelings stopped and she passed out right there on her knees while her hands still grasped her head.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A few minutes later, she came to.  
  
Cautiously, and confused, she opened up her eyes slowly. She noticed that her hands were grasping her head and she was resting on her knees, on a dirty and rocky ground. She looked up slowly and immediately gasped.  
  
Lord Voldemort! Right in front of her! He was standing a few feet away from her, eyes blazing in fury. 'What is going on?' she thought to herself. How did Voldemort get her here, and why couldn't she remember what was happening.  
  
She weakly raised herself to her feet. As soon as she got to her feet, she took a wary step back from him.  
  
Voldemort looked absolutely livid. How dare a Mudblood destroy his plan and still live! Those images and memories inside that bowl were very useful to him, and she sabotaged it! He grasped his wand in his hand very tightly. Slowly, shaking with rage, he raised it up to eyelevel and said in a low, very dangerous voice, "I will most certainly enjoy killing you, Mudblood." He then shouted, "Adavera Ked...  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N- ooohhhh! A cliffhanger! I'm so sorry about the shortness and quality of this! And I'm also sorry for the lack previews, but that would just ruin the cliffhanger. Instead of the previews, I will answer some of the reviews. I'm sorry if I don't answer one of yours. I appreciate them all, nonetheless. Please review this chapter!  
  
JayGurlie15- Thanks for the review! I'm so glad you like the plot!  
  
Anarane Anwamane- Thank you so much! You always review. You're so awesome.  
  
faries- Yeppers, she did get her memory back. I hope you liked this update!  
  
Killer Angel- Thanks for the review!!! I hope you liked this one!  
  
juggling stars- thank you so much! I'm so honored that this is one of your favorite stories!!!  
  
CassieGurl- wow! I'm so flattered. Thank you for the complement and review!  
  
harhar79- Yep yep, this is indeed the Chamber of Secrets! Thanks for reviewing!  
  
firehottie- hope this update was quick enough for you! Thanks for reviewing!  
  
Etilia- thanks for the review! I agree with you. I love stories where Lily and the Marauders are friends. I just wish there were a lot more like that out there. ; )  
  
vamperfly- I'm so glad you like this story! And thank you so much for all the reviews!!!!!!!!!! You're awesome!  
  
EbonyQuill- I hope you liked this one! Thank you so much for reviewing. You're one of the few that always review and I am so grateful for it!  
  
bebe-chrissy- thank you so much for reviewing!!!!!! I hope this was a quick enough update!  
  
Shayley Rain- thank you so much for the review! I hope you liked this one!  
  
Skyfire5- thank you so much!!!  
  
Shinning Crystal- I'm sorry for the cliffhanger on the last chapter. Also on this one! I hope you liked this one though! Thank you for the review!  
  
Again, everyone, I am sooooooooooo sorry for leaving you with another cliffhanger. And with such a short chapter! I'm terrible, I know. I just hope people will review anyway. 


	29. Saving Lily

Previously:  
  
She weakly raised herself to her feet. As soon as she got to her feet, she took a wary step back from him.  
  
Voldemort looked absolutely livid. How dare a Mudblood destroy his plan and still live! Those images and memories inside that bowl were very useful to him, and she sabotaged it! He grasped his wand in his hand very tightly. Slowly, shaking with rage, he raised it up to eyelevel and said in a low, very dangerous voice, "I will most certainly enjoy killing you, Mudblood." He then shouted, "Adava Ked...  
  
~*~*~*~20 Minutes Earlier*~*~*~*~  
  
James was running along a rather long hall, frantically searching for his missing best friend/crush. Just as he was about to run a corner, he was ambushed twice. One from the front and one from his right. All three persons fell to the floor with a dull thud. James squinted through the darkness at the two others.  
  
"Sirius, Remus." He spoke out loud, his booming voice echoing through the corridors.  
  
"James, Remus," James heard Sirius say, "Any luck?"  
  
They could see the outline of Remus' head moving back and forth, "None."  
  
"Me neither." James put in.  
  
Sirius sighed, "Same here. I don't know where she could have gone."  
  
"Well, she isn't on the map, we know that." Remus said thoughtfully. Then, after a few moments, he asked, "So you think she could be in the Forbidden Forest?"  
  
James considered that, "She very well 'could' be. Shall we look?"  
  
They all three got up and Sirius said in an incredulous voice, as though it were obvious that they 'should' look, "Do pigs fly?" and he turned to walk down the hall to go out the doors.  
  
Remus and James exchanged and followed him, "No." James answered confused.  
  
Sirius stopped, "Huh?"  
  
"Pigs don't fly, Sirius." Remus said, trying not to smile.  
  
Sirius thought for a moment and said, "Oh never mind, let's just look." James and Remus exchanged another look and smirked at each other as they followed him.  
  
They turned another corner after a few minutes and continued walking down another corridor. That is until James' hands shot out and stopped Sirius and Remus from walking.  
  
"What is it, James?" Remus asked, not seeing the direction James was looking.  
  
James pointed towards something and it was then that Sirius and Remus realized they were showered in a dim green glow. Looking the direction James was staring at in wonder, their jaws dropped simultaneously. They were standing near the door to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and to their astonishment, the door had a green glowing handprint on it.  
  
James walked forward, determinedly, and inspected the door. "What do you suppose caused this?" he wondered out loud to Sirius and Remus. The other two stepped up to his side.  
  
"I'm not sure, but I'm positive it has something to do with Voldemort." Remus supplied with a shrug.  
  
"Well, then, lets check this out." Sirius said determinedly and stepped through the door, the other two not far behind.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"I will most certainly enjoy killing you, Mudblood." He then shouted, "Adava Kedavera!"  
  
"LILY!" someone shouted from behind her while someone else tackled her to the ground just as the burst of green light was about to strike her in the chest.  
  
Voldemort cursed loudly when the spell missed. Lily was laying face down, unconscious due to the hard ground connecting harshly with her head. James was on top of her, shielding her from harm for the moment.  
  
Remus and Sirius were right next to them, holding out their wands threateningly. James got up off of Lily and turned her over and leaving her safely on the ground. He too got up next to his fellow Marauders and pointed his wand at Voldemort.  
  
Voldemort sneered and said in a cold voice, "You brats are becoming quite the nuisance to me."  
  
"What's the matter, Voldemort?" Sirius taunted, unafraid, "Can't even beat three under trained wizards."  
  
"All your plans that you've ever thought of had been ruined because of us four." James said matter-of-factly.  
  
"Actually," Voldemort said, a twisted smile forming on his face, "You are helping me succeed in my plans right now." Before any of them could react, he aimed his wand at Sirius and shouted, "Stupefy!" Sirius was knocked backwards unconscious, his wand flying a few feet away from him.  
  
"Stupefy!" James shouted, but Voldemort dodged it.  
  
"Stupefy!" he shouted again to Remus. The same thing that happened to Sirius happened to Remus.  
  
"So, that just leaves you and me, Potter." Voldemort spoke quietly.  
  
James glared hatefully at him, "Petrificus Totalis!" he shouted.  
  
Again, Voldemort dodged it, "Tut tut, Potter, didn't you even have properly dueling lessons? It'd have thought that by now, after Dumbledore learned about the prophesy, he would have had you four in his office daily for the training."  
  
James looked confused and said hatefully, "What prophesy? What are you talking about?!"  
  
Voldemort looked shocked for a moment, then returned to his usual sneer, "Maybe that won't be a problem then, eh? For now, I guess I'll just have fun torturing you. Crucio!"  
  
James fell to his knees, urging himself not to scream out. A few gasps escaped and Voldemort smirked. Sirius had awoken during this and saw James on the floor in pain. He snarled at seeing his best friend in this state and jumped up furiously, walking over to his wand and picking it up subtly.  
  
While Voldemort was busy looking at James with satisfaction, Sirius aimed his wand discreetly at him and then shouted, "Expellarimus!" This took Voldemort completely by surprise when he flew forcefully into a wall and his wand was in Sirius' hand.  
  
James stopped twitching while Sirius walked casually over to the unconscious form of Voldemort. When he reached his destination, Sirius stood, towering over him, his face a look of disgust, and spat out, "Take that you son of a b***h." He then turned back around and surveyed the scene around him.  
  
James was wrestling himself to his feet, panting harshly, while Remus was just waking up, shaking his head dizzily. He rushed over to his fellow Marauders and helped Remus up on his feet as James stumbled over.  
  
"You two alright?" Sirius asked.  
  
James and Remus nodded, "Yeah, just a little lightheaded." Remus answered.  
  
James was about to say something, but stopped when all three heard a moan from a few feet away. They whipped their heads around to meet the sight of Lily sitting up, her eyes closed in pain. James noticed with a tug on his heart that she had a trickle of blood coming from her forehead and a cut lip.  
  
They rushed over to her and Lily then noticed that there were other people with her. She opened her eyes slowly and looked at their faces, not missing a beat to tense up and pull herself to her feet hurriedly.  
  
James narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. Something wasn't right. There was something different with her. He noticed that the sparkle she was lacking before in her eyes was now back. But, despite the sparkle, they also held...what was it? Fear? Alarm?  
  
She backed up a little way away from them, not meeting their eyes. She looked as though she were having an inward battle with herself. Finally, she spoke quietly, her voice quivering a little and eyes filling with tears, "W-what are you three d-doing h-here?"  
  
"We came here to rescue you, of course." Sirius spoke as though it were obvious.  
  
Lily snapped her head up, now meeting their eyes with bewilderment, "Y-you came...t-to rescue...me?" she asked, sounding almost unbelievable.  
  
"Of course we did, Lils." Remus answered, frowning a little when he saw her flinch a little when he said 'Lils'.  
  
"But..." Lily paused, confused, "But, why?"  
  
The three exchanged confused looks and James asked, "Well, why not, Flower. We're your friends."  
  
Lily paled, her bottom lip quivering, "W-what? I-I thought you hated me? I thought...everyone hated me."  
  
"Why would you think that?" Remus asked gently.  
  
James' eyes soften; he knew where this was going.  
  
"Y-you guys 'told' me that." Lily said a tear falling, "Right-right after I came back from the library last week. James and Sirius accused me of...of telling Malfoy your secret. Then...the whole school kind of...despised me. Don't you three remember?"  
  
Sirius and Remus paled, realizing what was going on. She had gotten her memory back, and she still believed the whole school hated her.  
  
James sighed sadly, feeling like scum, "Lily," he began gently. She flinched again. "I-I'm sorry. About everything. We, Sirius and I, we had no right to accuse you like we did. We shouldn't have believed Malfoy over you."  
  
"We should have believed you." Sirius put in, "Our friend. We should have realized you would never betray us."  
  
Tears were now streaming down Lily's face. She couldn't believe it. What had caused this change? James stepped closer to her and she saw tears in his eyes as well. She was also startled to see...Compassion? Regret? In his eyes. Before she knew it, she was pulled into a hug. A warm, comforting hug that she had had the experience of for the passed 12 years.  
  
She let out a sob, releasing all the emotions she had had bottled up for quite some time. She felt Remus and Sirius putting reassuring hands on her back. She was finally home where she belonged. After a couple of minutes of no one talking, Lily reluctantly pulled back, surprising herself by feeling incomplete without being in James' embrace.  
  
"I-I just have one question." Lily said quietly, still feeling a little awkward. She looked up and met their eyes and asked with such sincerity that it almost pained the guys' hearts to hear it, "W-what brought this sudden change? I mean, yesterday...this morning...you three, well, detested me."  
  
James blinked a couple of times in shock. This was getting real weird, "This morning? We didn't hate you this morning."  
  
"Yes you did." Lily said a little more confidently, "I remember it. I went over to you, James, and told you about our prefects meeting. You just glared at me."  
  
James exchanged another worried glance with the other two. "Lily? Did we, by any chance, happen to have a Quidditch game today?" Sirius asked, knowing the answer already.  
  
Lily nodded; the boys noticed a pained look in her eyes for a half second, "Yeah. We did." She stole a glance at James.  
  
"And you...saved me from that deadly bludger." James finished for her, recognizing the glance. He looked her squarely in the eye and said genuinely, "Thank you."  
  
Lily blushed and looked down at her bare feet, "No problem. What are friends for?" she replied, smiling a little.  
  
"But, Lily, there's something you gotta know." Sirius started, "You see, after that bludger hit you...you fell off the broom."  
  
Lily nodded, "I know that."  
  
"That's not all." Remus cut in, "Lily," he looked at her seriously, "You were in a coma for five months. We were afraid you wouldn't make it."  
  
Lily paled, "Wha...what I mean...how...huh?" she stammered, confused.  
  
James opened his mouth to explain, but never got a chance to.  
  
"Petrificus Totalis!" a shout was heard from behind as the others watched James freeze up and fall to the ground. Voldemort was standing upright, his hands held out in front of him and a light shinning from them. He was doing wandless magic! The curse was shouted three more times before Lily, Sirius, or Remus could get their wands aimed and ready.  
  
Voldemort loomed over them all with a sinister look upon his face, bending down to take his wand back from Sirius' stiff hand. "You little kiddies didn't really think I'd let you get away with that, did you?" his blood red eyes darkened and he shouted so loud that they would have flinched if it hadn't been for the fact that they were rigid, "I am NOT going to be made a fool of by some Mudblood, a POTTER, and two Mudblood-loving fools!!! Now, this had gone on long enough."  
  
He levitated them all to one of the walls and chained them before he said the counter-curse. They all started to thrash around wildly, trying to get free.  
  
"Pity you four are so 'loyal' to that Mudblood-loving fool, Albus Dumbledore. You could have been made great death eaters." He spoke tauntingly.  
  
They just glared at him as he continued, "But, as pitiful as that is, I will finally be able to assure my reign over the magical world, without the muggle world. And it all starts with the deaths of you four."  
  
Lily paled as the others just flayed around more violently. She was so confused. She didn't even know why she was here. One minute she was falling to the ground, most likely to her death, and the next, she was sitting 'on' the ground, watching as Voldemort was about to kill her.  
  
"Now," Voldemort said in mock-thoughtfulness, "Who shall I kill first? Hmmm, tough decision." He looked over at Lily and said, "Now, I know how satisfying it will be to kill you, Mudblood, but I'd rather you see your friends die first." He looked at the other three, "Who to choose, who to choose. Ah," he looked right at Remus, "let's try the werewolf first then, shall we?"  
  
"Go to Hell, Voldemort!" Remus shouted. Lily did a double-take; this was the first time she actually heard him cuss.  
  
"Yeah, don't you own it?" Sirius spat out ragingly.  
  
"Such wit, Mr. Black." Voldemort mocked. "You'll be next."  
  
He turned back to Remus and without taking his eyes off of him, he said to the other three, "Say goodbye to your friend, children. You'll all be joining him soon enough."  
  
Lily started to cry, her chest heaving. She just made up with her friends and now she would never speak to them again. These people were her family!  
  
Remus shut his eyes firmly and turned his head, waiting for the killing curse.  
  
"Adava Kedaver-,"  
  
"Stupefy!" Remus snap opened his eyes along with the other three to see Voldemort going flying a few feet into the air and hit the wall. Standing about ten feet away with his wand raised threateningly was Albus Dumbledore.  
  
Lily was never happier to see anyone in her life. They were all safe now. Every single one of them.  
  
"Professor!" James shouted, relieved.  
  
"Dumbledore." Voldemort spat, shaking his head dizzily.  
  
"It takes a great coward to have to tie children up so you can kill them, Tom. Let them go." He ordered, eyes uncharacteristically flashing.  
  
Sirius looked at the other three chained up and mouthed, 'Tom?' to them. They shrugged, confused as well.  
  
"You see, Albus, I would." Voldemort began as he stood up and brushed himself off, "But, I believe I have plans for them already."  
  
"Surrender now, Tom, or I will not be responsible for my actions!" Dumbledore's voice echoed loudly in the cave. Lily jumped when she heard his outburst. She had never heard him shout at anyone. Things were just 'so' confusing!  
  
Voldemort glared, "You cannot order me around anymore, Dumbledore! I am 'not' a student anymore!"  
  
"That was your one and only warning," Dumbledore said, almost regretfully, "Now, I will do what I must." He started to chant words that neither Lily nor the others had ever heard before. A white glow formed around him and sucked itself into his aimed wand. The tip of the wand was glowing brighter and brighter. To the other's astonishment, Voldemort's eyes widened in fear.  
  
"You will be sorry, Dumbledore! Mark me words, I 'will' be back!" Voldemort shouted, right before he started to float off the ground, faster and faster going closer to the top of the cave. Right before his head hit the top, he pointed his wand upwards and shouted a destruction curse. There was a loud 'bang' and a large chunk of rock came out, leaving a hole big enough for Voldemort to fly out of.  
  
Dumbledore cried out a curse to try and stop him, but he missed and Voldemort flew successfully out the hole.  
  
All was quiet for a few seconds as Lily and the Marauders took in all of what had happened. Dumbledore turned to look at them, and they stared wordlessly back at him.  
  
This was too much to handle for Lily. After Dumbledore muttered an incantation to release them all from the chains, Lily's head started to spin and her eyes started to blur. The last thing she remembered before everything went black was someone shouting her name and a pair of strong arms catching her before she hit the ground.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"So the locket I bought for her?"  
  
"Yes, that was a set-up as well."  
  
"I just don't understand! 'Why' does Voldemort want us all dead? Me and Lily especially?"  
  
"That, I daresay, I cannot tell you, for I do not know."  
  
Lily opened her eyes to the sound of voices. "Lily?" someone called. Everything was blurry and her head was pounding painfully. Mumbling incoherently, she blinked a few times before things came into focus.  
  
James was standing right over her head, worry and concern etched in his eyes. He was holding her hand tightly in his, fearful that she would pass out again.  
  
"James?" she whispered confused. "What happened?"  
  
"Miss Evans, good, you're awake." Dumbledore spoke.  
  
Lily looked around. Sirius, Remus, and Peter were gathered around her bed, as was Dumbledore and Mr. and Mrs. Potter.  
  
"Oh Lily!" Mrs. Potter rushed forward; almost knocking James to the ground as she pushed passed him. She embraced her in a motherly hug. "We were so worried about you!"  
  
Lily's face was turning red from the cut off of oxygen Mrs. Potter was causing. James noticed and said loudly, "Mum! Layoff, she can't breathe." Mrs. Potter backed up and Lily noticed tears in her eyes.  
  
"What happened?" she asked again.  
  
"It is a long story, Miss Evans." Dumbledore began. "I daresay that many things this year were due to Voldemort.  
  
"Most of this started at the beginning of the year, with Mr. Malfoy telling your friends that you had told him about Mr. Lupin's condition." Lily averted her eyes when he said this, but a hand taking her hand lead Lily's gaze into the chocolate brown eyes of James, who smiled reassuringly to her.  
  
"As I had told James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, the school was under the spell of the Agresivio Anguera potion." Lily's eyes widened in shock. 'So, nobody really hated me!' "It seems that Voldemort was planning on secluding you from the safety of your friends so he could capture you, then kill you.  
  
"The day of that Quidditch match, he had Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Avery slip some dangerous poison in yours and Mr. Potter's goblets. I assume you already knew about Mr. Potter's goblet." Lily nodded, looking down at her hand in James'. He gave hers a tight squeeze.  
  
"Yes, but I am sure that you didn't know about yours being poisoned, so, as they had planned, you drank from yours. Can I assume you had a terrible headache and stomachache during the match?" she nodded again, "Yes, I thought so. Well, since the poison didn't work on Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Avery took it upon themselves to curse that bludger and jinxed Sirius', Remus', and James' brooms from moving on their own. Their plan backfired yet again when you realized what was going on and decided to act courageously and sacrifice yourself instead of having James be knocked off his broom.  
  
"I'm sure Voldemort was happy to hear that you were injured and only a thread from dying. That is why it had quieted down for quite some time. But, when he realized that there was a chance of you waking up and getting better, he went to another plan. I believe that while you were in the coma, you had a strange dream. Am I correct?"  
  
Lily nodded again, "Yes that's right."  
  
"Could you possibly tell us about this dream you had, Lily?" he asked.  
  
"Um, ok, well, I think I was in a forest with-" she broke off, blushing as her eyes quickly darted to her hand in James', "someone. We had just jumped into a lake and were playing and splashing around. Then, suddenly the scene changed, and I was all alone in some kind of open field. The day was now night and the sky was stormy and cloudy. I looked around and realized I was no longer alone, but with Voldemort. He was standing there, his wand pointed at me. I asked him what he wanted from me and he replied he wanted me dead. Then, he said some sort of spell that hit me in the chest. Then, I remember feeling very weird and looking up at the stormy clouds. There were images up there, images of my life. But, when one image disappeared, I couldn't remember something anymore. It was very weird."  
  
"Yes, that was really no dream, Lily." Dumbledore explained, "That was actually happening. Voldemort took your memories from you. Now, I will return to my story. You had been unconscious for about five months, not once showing signs of waking up. Then, one day, you had mysteriously turned to the worst. Madame Pomfrey tried everything she could think of on you, but it didn't work. You were officially dead for a few minutes." Lily paled. "But, then, you inexplicably woke. The thing was, you woke up without any recollection of your life, or anyone apart of it.  
  
"So, when James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter showed up to see you, they introduced themselves, and you all became friends all over again. Due to your lack of class time and studying and having any memory of even being a witch, the teachers, your friends, and myself tutored you. You were doing quite well. The problem was, Voldemort knew about all this, and he decided it was time to take action.  
  
"Last night, Peter up to my office and informed me of what was happening. He told me that you had strangely gone rigid and started to walk out of your common room. Remus followed, but was knocked out. I believe that Voldemort had controlled you and given you some of his powers."  
  
"But, why would he do that?" Remus asked.  
  
"Voldemort is a parseltongue, he can speak to snakes. That is the only way you can enter the Chamber of Secrets."  
  
"The Chamber of What?" Sirius asked.  
  
"The Chamber of Secrets, Sirius." Dumbledore explained, "Back in the time of the four founders, Salazar Slytherian had created his own chamber, where he could do his own bidding and whatnot. Being an heir of Salazar himself, Voldemort used the chambers so he could go through with his own plan.  
  
"So, when Lily reached the entrance, Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, she walked through it all, under the influence of Voldemort. When she got to the cave part successfully, Voldemort took the spell off her and she realized where she was.  
  
"I happened to see a bowl down there that was knocked over. It was the Occisio Bowl."  
  
Mr. and Mrs. Potter both gasped. The kids all looked confused, "What's that?" Peter asked.  
  
"The Occisio Bowl was created long ago, a destruction weapon made by Salazar Slytherian. The bowl itself needs the full memory of a Muggle-born witch, and the key to start it. Since Voldemort had Lily's memory in it, he only needed the key. Once it had all that stuff needed, with the key, it could create enough energy to destroy anything it was targeted to. Voldemort chose the target of muggle England. If that key was put in the bowl, it would have all been destroyed, along with all the people."  
  
"But, what was the key?" Lily asked.  
  
"You're wearing it." He said simply. Lily looked down and saw her two necklaces around her neck. Madame Pomfrey had found them in her pocket and put them back on.  
  
She looked up confused, waiting for an explanation, "Sirius, what did you get Lily for her twelfth birthday?" Dumbledore asked.  
  
"That locket." Sirius answered.  
  
"And where did you get it?"  
  
"A small shop in France when my family visited there that summer. The man who sold it to me was a little odd. He said that this locket was an old one, worth quite a bit. I told him I didn't have that much extra money, and he told me not to worry about it, it was on sale anyway." He answered.  
  
"Do you remember his name?" Dumbledore asked.  
  
"He never told me. I don't even think that the shop had a name." Sirius stated, looking thoughtful.  
  
Dumbledore smiled softly, "That is because it really wasn't a shop. That man there was Voldemort in disguise. He wanted you to buy that locket for her. Because it was the key to the Occisio Bowl."  
  
Sirius widened his eyes in shock. "No way!" he exclaimed.  
  
Dumbledore nodded, "I'm afraid so."  
  
"So, if he needed the key to complete it, why did he want 'me' to have it?" Lily asked.  
  
"The key can only be useful if the person whose memories are stolen to use puts the key in herself. He needed you to place the locket in the bowl willingly for it to work. If you did it against your will, it would not have worked."  
  
"Professor," James spoke, looking thoughtful, "You told us earlier that Voldemort thought of a different plan when he realized that the Quidditch incident didn't work. It sounds like this conspiracy had been planned a few years ago, not just a couple months ago."  
  
"You're right James. But, you see, this plan was a backup plan. If the poison and the bludger incident didn't work, he would do this one. The thing about Voldemort is," he told them all, "he always has backups."  
  
Everyone just sat there, digesting everything they had just learned.  
  
"I suggest we let Miss Evans get some sleep. I daresay she has had a long couple of months." Dumbledore said. The others nodded and went to kiss her cheek and hug her. After everyone had left, with James being the last one out of the door (he had to be dragged out by Mrs. Potter), Madame Pomfrey came out with a steaming goblet of potion and told her to drink up. After Lily practically gagged, she fell into a peaceful sleep.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A/N- hey everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Preparing for school. Mine starts up on the 25th. Blah! Anyway, I hope this chapter wasn't too confusing. I really don't like the way I wrote it. I hope you enjoyed it anyway! Please review! (25 updates from my last one, you guys are the BEST!) Also, I'm sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes, I just wanted to get this update out there as soon as I could.  
  
*"Really Madame Pomfrey, I'm feeling so much better!"  
  
*"What day is it?"  
  
*"Let's get some breakfast quick. I don't want to miss out on the first class."  
  
*"We have the whole week off."  
  
*"I would like everyone to join me in a round of applause to say 'Welcome Back, Lily'."  
  
*"Hey Lily! Wanna go out with me!?"  
  
*"What am I doing just sitting here? The OWLs are 3 months away and I've missed 5 months of studying!"  
  
*"This, like, doesn't mean we're, like, friends or anything." "Wouldn't have it any other way."  
  
*"One more Quidditch game of the year and we've got our star chaser back for it."  
  
*"Hi Lily. Want to go out with-," "What do you think this is, 'Charity Day'? When have we every let her date?"  
  
*"Y-You see Lily, the thing is, well, I've always liked-,"  
  
*"Impeccable timing, Sirius."  
  
*"Tomorrow's the OWLs!"  
  
~~~***I'm cutting the previews in half, now I'll reply to reviewers***~~~  
  
JerseyGirl03- Sorry about the cliffhanger! I hope you liked this update.  
  
Etilia- I know what you mean about liking the new Lily better. I really liked to write her that way. Thanks for reviewing!  
  
Shinning Crystal- lol, thanks for the review! Sorry about the cliffy. I can't wait to see the update of your story!  
  
vamperfly- I hope this update was quick enough. Thank you for reviewing!  
  
The Dark Vella- thanks for the review! I hope you like this chapter!  
  
Shayley Rain- lol, thanks I loved your review!  
  
Lady Ruth- THANK YOU SO MUCH! I hope you liked the update  
  
bRiTiShCk02- I know, I really felt bad about TWO cliffhangers. I am SO sorry. I hope you liked this one and thank you SO MUCH for adding me to your favorites!!!  
  
pere falc- Yep yep, she got her memory back! I hope you like this one!  
  
Killer Angel- yep, she got her memory back, thanks for reviewing!  
  
bebe-chrissy- I'm sorry it was so short. I hope you liked this one. And don't worry, there 'will' be more L/J action in the future chapters.  
  
EbonyQuill- you're so sweet! You've got to be like one of my #1 reviewers! Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
i o u a name- lol, I hope you enjoyed this one!  
  
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firehottie- hi there! I hope you liked it. Sorry it took so long!  
  
JayGurlie15- lol, well I hope you 'didn't' die from the suspense. Sorry about the cliffhanger.  
  
HiddenAngel2- Hey there! I hope you liked this one. I'm so glad you liked it even though it 'was' a bit too short. ;)  
  
sydney-the-great-blonde- you have 'got' to be one of my other #1 reviewers. I could just hug you all! Thank you for reviewing and I'm so happy both my stories are one of your favorites!  
  
Summerpony- Thanks for Reviewing!!! I hope you liked this chapter!  
  
faries- Thank you for reviewing. Sorry I didn't post for a while.  
  
wizardduel2- Isn't she brave? I understand about the camp thing. Thanks for reviewing anyway!!!  
  
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Luthien Vardamir- lol, I loved your review! Thank you for reviewing!!! 


	30. Things Are Finally Getting Back to Norma...

Previously:  
  
"I suggest we let Miss Evans get some sleep. I daresay she has had a long couple of months." Dumbledore said. The others nodded and went to kiss her cheek and hug her. After everyone had left, with James being the last one out of the door (he had to be dragged out by Mrs. Potter), Madame Pomfrey came out with a steaming goblet of potion and told her to drink up. After Lily practically gagged, she fell into a peaceful sleep.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Really Madame Pomfrey, I'm feeling so much better!" Lily insisted, nearly banging her hands on the bed she was sitting up in, feeling a tantrum coming on.  
  
The stubborn nurse glared, annoyed at her.  
  
"I've been in here for two days. How much better could I get? Honestly." She asked, keeping her tone polite.  
  
"Miss Evans. I still have to run some tes-," Madame Pomfrey began.  
  
"Oh, I don't think that will be necessary, Poppy." A voice said from the doorway. Lily sighed in relief.  
  
"Albus, I really do think that-," Madame Pomfrey began, testily.  
  
Dumbledore held up a hand to silence her, "Poppy, I personally believe that Miss Evans could not be healthier. I was with you when you ran that recent test, remember? I found nothing wrong with her; therefore, with no reason to stay in here, I think it would be best if she was released."  
  
Lily smiled, satisfied, while Madame Pomfrey seemed to be having an internal battle with herself. Dumbledore looked discreetly over at Lily, and winked.  
  
"Fine," Madame Pomfrey huffed at last. She turned her attention to Lily and said stiffly, worry still apparent in her eyes, "Miss Evans, as soon as you dress, you may leave." Lily shrieked in delight and jumped out of bed quickly. Then, she hugged Dumbledore, an action that surprised both himself and Madame Pomfrey both. Without another word, she skipped happily into one of the lavatories with some of her clothes.  
  
Dumbledore smiled over at Madame Pomfrey and said, "See? What did I tell you, good as new."  
  
~*~*~  
  
Lily walked out of the bathroom, thirty minutes later showered and refreshed, to see her four very best friends sitting around her previously occupied bed. James was the first to look up at her as she walked quietly over to them.  
  
For a instant, when their eyes connected, time seemed to stop. Lily quirked her head to one side, thoughtfully, looking deep into the depths of his chocolate orbs. He looked back at her with the same thoughtful look; his eyes practically reflected some of the sparkle from her eyes. Lily smiled softly at him; the smile he loved so much. A small smile formed on his lips as well. For that split-second, looking into each other's eyes, something inside each of them seemed to come to life. Lily felt more energized, James felt more at peace.  
  
That precious moment between the two was interrupted as Sirius, who had obviously noticed Lily right after James, jumped up from his chair and shouted, "Lileeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" he rushed over at picked her up, twirling her around in a circle.  
  
Lily laughed, a thrilling feeling coming to her as he did that. Finally, Sirius put her down and the boys realized she was wearing her normal uniform instead of the usual hospital gowns.  
  
"Why are you wearing the school uniform?" Peter asked, brows furrowed.  
  
Lily replied, her hands motioning to the disgruntled nurse at the end of the Infirmary, "Madame Pomfrey finally let me go."  
  
Their eye brows shot up in surprise, "After only two days?" Remus asked.  
  
"How did you manage that?" James asked, awe in his voice.  
  
Lily smiled and said, "I didn't. Dumbledore stopped by this morning and prompted her."  
  
"Alright, well, anyway," Sirius said, changing the subject. "Let's dump this joint."  
  
They snorted in reply, "Interesting choice of words, Padfoot." Remus said.  
  
"Anyway, yeah, let's leave." They started towards the door.  
  
"What day is it?" Lily asked thoughtfully as James opened the door and they all walked out.  
  
"Tuesday." came the reply from Remus.  
  
Lily nodded and checked her watch, "Well, then, let's get some breakfast quick. I don't want to miss out on the first class."  
  
"We have the whole week off, Lils." James explained, putting his arm around her shoulders like they always were, "You didn't think we would have to go through all that with Voldemort and not even get a 'slack-off' time for it, did you?" he joked.  
  
Lily groaned while the other four smiled at her behavior. It was so expected. "But, I haven't been in school for '5 months'!" she whined, good- naturedly. "Honestly, I need the practice!"  
  
"Lily, you know I would be the first person to back you up on that," Remus started, "But, I have to go with Dumbledore on this one. I think, you more than the rest of us, deserve this break."  
  
James, Sirius, and Peter all nodded their heads in agreement. "Lily you've been through so much this school year, let's just take it easy for now, alright."  
  
Lily sighed and nodded her head, somewhat dejectedly, "I guess you're right." She replied.  
  
"But we'll still do that breakfast thing. I mean, we're here and all anyway." Remus said.  
  
"FOOD!!!!!!!" Sirius shouted suddenly and unexpectedly. Lily jumped about a foot in the air and started to laugh with the rest of them.  
  
"Ickle, Lily-Lilsby," Sirius started as he moved forward and surprised her yet again by lifting her onto his back, "For scaring you, I think I'll give you a piggy-back ride to our seats."  
  
"Sirius Xavier Black, put me down this INSTANT!" Lily objected, trying to get off his back, but, because of her delicate size, she was no match against him. Eventually, she gave up.  
  
Remus opened the doors to the Great Hall and Lily immediately buried her face into Sirius' back to hide her blushing face. Despite herself, Lily giggled with the rest of them. When, what seemed like forever, they reached their seats, Lily finally looked up at the crowds of people in the Great Hall. Many were staring at the group, chuckling cheerfully at them.  
  
Lily looked down at her plate, suddenly feeling timid. Regardless of the fact that Dumbledore told her about everything, she still felt self- conscious about everything they had said to her. The rest of the Marauders noticed her sudden mood change and understood. James grasped her hand in his from her left side and gave it a reassuring squeeze.  
  
Just at that moment, Dumbledore came into the Great Hall, talking with little professor Flitwick. He looked up and caught her eye for a moment, smiling slightly. When he reached the front table and walked to his chair in the middle, McGonagall tapped her water goblet, smiling a little in Lily's direction, to gain the attention of everyone in the Great Hall.  
  
Within a few seconds, the hall had quieted down, curious as to what Dumbledore had to say to them.  
  
He looked as though he were about to burst with happiness, a look that hadn't crossed his face very much this year, so they were all a little interested about what he could possibly be telling them. "Students, pupils, teachers of Hogwarts," he began, his eyes flickering to the Gryffindor table, "I believe I have some wonderful news that most of you will be pleased to know. As you are probably already aware of, Lily Evans is joining us today."  
  
Tons of eyes flickered over to where the Marauders were sitting. Loads of catcalls and whistles were heard. Frank Longbottom waved to her from a few seats away, and the head boy and girl both nodded and smiled to her.  
  
"You all do not know, though, what has been happening right from under our noses. I won't go into that detail, all I will say is that, two days ago, Miss Evans had quite an experience that somewhat helped her. She has gained her memory back and is in perfect health with us today. I would like everyone to join me in a round of applause to say 'Welcome Back, Lily'."  
  
Before he could even finish his speech, though, a burst of applause tore through the hall. A few people shouted something welcoming to her that she had to strain to hear through the loud whistles. Lily blushed and looked down at her plate, a little uncomfortable with the sudden attention directed towards her.  
  
Dumbledore finally held up a hand and quieted down the hall. Beaming at the Marauders, he continued, "And I do believe that I owe some students some points that they more than deserve."  
  
Lily looked at the guys, glowing at them.  
  
"To Mr. Peter Pettigrew," Peter's ears turned a bright red as he let out a squeak of surprise, "I award 30 points for braving the long corridors and halls to come and inform me in a time of need."  
  
The Gryffindor table cheered loudly, some clapping Peter on the back. "Next, to Mr. Remus Lupin," Remus bent his head down, hiding a small smile, "For keeping his courageousness, even when Death stared him in the face, I award Gryffindor 40 points." More clapping and cheering ensued.  
  
"Next, to Mr. Sirius Black," Sirius got the most applause so far, mostly from his female admirers. Sirius, unlike Remus and Peter, simply winked at them all and waved with grace and confidence, "I award Gryffindor, 50 points, for saving the life of James Potter.  
  
"Next, to Mr. James Potter, for an outstanding amount of courage and quick thinking, for saving the life of Lily Evans," Lily glanced at James for a moment before smiling widely, an action he gladly returned as he gave her hand another squeeze, "I award 55 points to Gryffindor." The Gryffindors were practically on the edge of their seats from all the excitement.  
  
Dumbledore raised his hand for silence and then said when everyone quieted, "And finally, to Miss Lily Evans. I believe she deserves every last one of these points, for her courage, persistence, determination, and kindness throughout the whole ordeal. I award Miss Evans, 70 points." That did it for the Gryffindors. Each one of them stood up at once and practically threw themselves on all five of them, clapping backs, shaking hands, and thanking them.  
  
It took about the next ten minutes for them all to quiet down. Lily and the rest of the Marauders were all back in their seats, as well with the rest of the Gryffindors, and were finishing their breakfasts.  
  
"Peter, you blockhead, the Canons are a sure thing this year. Remember, they just got that new Seeker, Davis." Sirius was arguing with Peter.  
  
"No way, Padfoot, it's definitely the Clovers this year. They've got Morranis." Peter argued right back.  
  
James was listening with amusement for a few minutes before he finally decided to input his opinion, "You two are both sorely mistaken. The cup is without a doubt, going to the Canons. They've got Williams, Jones, 'and' McDowell."  
  
Lily and Remus had blocked out the disagreement as they started up their own conversation. "Well, Adreas Damos came out with another book about 3 months ago; I've got mine if you would like to read it."  
  
"Oh, that would be great, Moony, I loved her last two. Thanks." she said as Remus handed her the book.  
  
"Hey Lily! Wanna go out with me!?" someone unexpectedly shouted from across the hall just them.  
  
Lily and Remus' head snapped up, as well as the previously tuned-out James, Sirius, and Peter. Soon, every person in the Great Hall was watching with interest. All four boys scowled at another boy at the Ravenclaw table. Then, in a split-second, everyone in the hall, minus the Slytherians, started to laugh merrily. Things were defiantly back to normal.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
At dinner that day, Lily and the guys were sitting just as they were before at their place at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. They hadn't really done that much today, just lounged around in their common room, and even snuck off to Hogsmeade to stock up on their supplies of pranks and sweets.  
  
"Can you believe that they got rid of that clothing store, 'The Witches' Wardrobe'?" Lily asked them, astonished.  
  
They just snickered in amusement. "Lils, darling, we really 'do' need to get you out more." Sirius said, only half joking.  
  
"That store has been gone since the middle of November." James explained, fighting off a smile.  
  
Lily suddenly snapped her head up, eye widened. "What am I doing just sitting here? The OWLs are 3 months away and I've missed 5 months of studying!" She jumped out of her seat, taking hold of James' and Sirius' arms, the two that were sitting right next to her, and said to them all, "Come on, we've got to head to the library! I bet that's where all the fifth and seventh years are!" She was right, all the tables in the hall were lacking most of those years.  
  
"Aw Lils. Let us have a break, will you." Sirius started whining, "We had a long day."  
  
"Nonsense." Lily said, not really listening to his pleas, just pulling them to their feet as Remus and Peter reluctantly followed from across the table.  
  
Lily marched in front of them as the guys dragged their feet out the hall. Sirius had grabbed a large handful of food and was now eating; the others begging him to share it. When they reached the doors, they walked out and continued their way towards the library.  
  
They hadn't been walking for five minutes before someone, or shall I say 3 someones, appeared about ten feet ahead of them after rounding a corner, walking towards the Great Hall.  
  
It was Cassandra and her gang. Lily had every intention of just walking passed them, still feeling the pain from when James and the rest started dating them to get back at her. Apparently, though, Cassandra had other plans.  
  
She muttered something to Stacy and Kelly. The two girls looked confused for a moment, then, without a word to anyone else, walked the rest of the way to the Great Hall by themselves.  
  
"Evans, can I, like, speak to you for, like, a minute?" Cassandra asked, looking as though she were going to be kicking herself later for doing this.  
  
Lily looked back at James and the rest to see their reactions. James was looking right back at her, asking her silently if she wanted them to go, Sirius was scowling at Cassandra, Remus was raising an eyebrow at Cassandra, and Peter looked as confused as Kelly and Stacy did. Lily nodded at James, answering his question. James sighed and nodded back before he grabbed Sirius' arm and tucked at him, he looked at Remus and Peter and jerked his head towards the library.  
  
Without a word, all four boys left Lily's side, giving her meaningful glances that she smiled back to.  
  
Lily turned back to Cassandra, raising her eyebrows in question, "What did you want?" she asked, trying to sound as polite as possible.  
  
Cassandra, for once, seemed to be at loss for words, "I...uh, like...I just wanted to say...Um..." she sighed and rolled her eyes, mad at herself for being flustered. Finally, she said simply, "I'm happy you're, like, better."  
  
Lily's eyes widened in complete and total astonishment. Never in a million years had she expected this. Cassandra was actually showing some compassion? The words 'Cassandra' and 'compassion' didn't fit in the same sentence. Lily giggled inwardly at seeing the sullen look Cassandra had.  
  
"Thank you." Lily said quietly, feeling a little awkward. Then, Cassandra did something that would have made even Voldemort himself die of a heart attack.  
  
Cassandra hugged her. Mind you, it was very stiffly indeed, and she pulled away as quickly as she came. Cassandra looked down at her feet while Lily seemed to be frozen on the spot, staring at her, shocked.  
  
They stood that way for about a full minute before Cassandra finally spoke up, in her normal, snotty voice and said, "This, like, doesn't mean we're, like, friends or anything, Evans."  
  
Even though her tone was icy, Lily could also detect a little worry in her voice. Lily suddenly smirked with one eyebrow raised, and said as she shook her head positively, "Wouldn't have it any other way, Wellington."  
  
A ghost of a smile formed on Cassandra's face, but disappeared before Lily was even sure it was real. "Good," Cassandra said swiftly, sniffing haughtily, then went on, "Well, then, I better be off to dinner. Oh," she concluded to Lily, "and this conversation...It never happened." And she walked off without a backwards glance.  
  
Lily smiled, a little amused at all this. She breathed a deep breathe, realizing that nobody hated her, and life was now back to normal.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Lily never did tell the Marauders what happened that night in the corridors. Sure, they had asked about it, and were a little suspicious when Lily told them that it really was nothing, but they respected her decision and didn't pry into the matter.  
  
The night before the final Quidditch match, Gryffindor vs. Slytherian, in the middle of April, Lily could not sleep at all. Flashes and memories of her previous fall kept filling in her mind. She did manage to dose off for about fifteen minutes, but awoke panting and sweating from a horrible dream she had had. She was up in the air, alone, none of her teammates or the other team members were out with her. Though, she was surrounded by thousands of students laughing at her, criticizing her. Then, the deadly bludger appeared in sight. Only it wasn't a bludger, it was Voldemort's head, and it was scowling and shouted out obscenities at her. Lily looked around for any help whatsoever, and miraculously, there was James, on his broom, zooming to catch her in time before Voldemort would force her off her broom. But, like in reality, James couldn't get to her and she fell off the broom after being stuck in the stomach by the head. She was falling, never breaking eye contact with James as he soared through the air, trying with all his might to reach her in time. She was nearing the ground. Falling, falling, falling...  
  
That was when she woke up and got out of bed for a glass of water. When she hopped in bed again, she tried to fall back asleep, but she couldn't. Sighing, she flung her covers off her and grabbed her diary and a quilt from her bed. Tip-toeing down the stairs noiselessly, she saw that the fire in the common room was still lit and crackling softly.  
  
She must have written in her diary for more than an hour that night. She couldn't remember what time she fell asleep, the only thing she remembered was sitting in one of her favorite arm chairs, writing intently, then the next second, being shaken softly on the shoulder by Remus, telling her to wake up.  
  
"We've got Quidditch today, remember?" he asked with a smile.  
  
Lily blinked a few time before smiling and nodded slowly, "Yeah, what time is it?" she asked, her voice crackling a little.  
  
"It's about 8. James and Sirius and Peter are upstairs, still getting dressed. You better get up as well." He suggested. Lily nodded again and gradually got out of the chair.  
  
"Want us to wait for you?" Remus asked.  
  
Lily turned her head a little from the stairway and said a little more alert than before, "Na, you guys go ahead. I'll meet you down there." She answered.  
  
Remus nodded and sat down in the chair previously occupied by Lily, waiting for James, Sirius, and Peter.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Thirty minutes later, Lily bounced down the stairs, a little nervous about the match. Just as the common room came into view, Lily smiled affectionately when she saw the Marauders sitting on the couch, talking about something she couldn't hear. She walked over trying to look stern, but failing horribly.  
  
"Lillers is here." Sirius announced when he noticed her. James turned around and smiled at her from his place on the couch next to Sirius, and Remus and Peter looked up from where they were sitting in two of the arm chairs.  
  
"I told you that you guys could go down. You didn't have to wait." Lily said to Remus, still smiling.  
  
Remus shrugged, "That's what I told them. But James wouldn't allow it."  
  
"Anyway," James cut in, fighting off a blush. He stood up and the others followed suit, "We should go to breakfast." He grabbed hold of Lily's hand and Sirius grabbed her other hand.  
  
"Hey, Wormtail." Lily said as she leaned forward to see him walking along side Sirius.  
  
"What?" he asked, leaning forward as well.  
  
"Did you get that Potions homework that I was helping you with?" she asked.  
  
"I got a little bit of it, I still think I need some help, though." He added a bit sheepishly.  
  
"No problem," Lily said nonchalantly, "I'll explain it again to you tonight."  
  
"We may actually pass these exams." James said laughingly.  
  
"With all this studying Lils and Moony are making us do, I wouldn't be surprised if we all got O's on them all." Lily playfully shoved Sirius.  
  
"At least you aren't breaking more girls' hearts this way." Lily said jokingly.  
  
"Nope, studying isn't keeping me away from the ladies," Sirius said with a proud smile, "I've got a late night rendezvous with Kallie Miller tonight."  
  
Lily shook her head, but still squeezed his hand affectionately. No matter how much Sirius' actions annoyed her, she wouldn't have it any other way.  
  
They reached the Great Hall just then. Remus pulled opened the doors and they all went in, sitting with the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team today. Many girls waved flirtatiously at James, Sirius, and Remus. Vise versa with Lily and guys.  
  
Lily looked around at the team expectantly, then sighed in mock- exasperation when she saw that they all looked edgy and jumpy. Not a single one of them were eating, just staring at their plates. She knew she couldn't blame them, heck, even she was nervous, it was after all, their last game. But, still, they needed to eat.  
  
'Guess it's time to start up the tradition again.' Lily thought to herself.  
  
"Now team," she started abruptly, causing them all to look up, startled at her outburst, but those surprised looks were quickly replaced by forming smiles. They all knew what was coming. Cripes, the entire Gryffindor table knew what was coming, since they all quieted down and watched the familiar scene. Lily went on, oblivious to the stares she got from a lot of the students, and even some teachers, "must I always repeat myself. Like I've said millions and 'trillions'," she did her customary arm stretching to accent her point, "No fuel in the belly, no fire in the brain." And she started to pile all their plates high with food of all sorts.  
  
Suddenly, the team didn't seem too nervous about the game.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Alright, team," James started, prepping the team in the locker room. He glanced over at Lily, eyes twinkling excitedly, "One more Quidditch game of the year and we've got our star chaser back for it. Know what that mean?"  
  
"It means, NO MORE LOCKHART!" Eric, one of the chasers with Molly and Lily, exclaimed, high-fiving Sirius.  
  
They all burst out laughing, thinking of the little scrawny 3rd year.  
  
"No," James said once they all quieted down, "It means, we can actually beat Slytherians." Everyone cheered as Lily blushed, but still gave Remus thumbs up when he caught her eye and cheered.  
  
"Now, I know we've beat both Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. That's why we're here." He said obviously. "The only thing keeping us from the Cup is those bloody Slytherians. With Lily completing the team, we're unbeatable. Molly, Eric and Lily do wonderful teamwork. Remus and Sirius, keep up the excellent work with those bludgers like last time, and Derek, just stay alert and we'll definitely win."  
  
Once again, the team cheered and James shouted over the noise, "NOW LET'S GO KICK SOME SLYTHERIAN BUTT!!!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"HE'S GOT THE SNITCH! PRON- I MEAN, POTTER'S GOT THE SNITCH! ALRIGHT JAMES!!!!!!!!!!!! 350-200 GRYFFINDOR WINS! Gryffindor WINS!" everyone could hear Peter shout from the commentary box. The crowd went wild. Slytherians in the stadium were shouting "Foul! They cheated!" but the Ravenclaw, Hufflepuffs, and most of all, the Gryffindors were cheering deafeningly.  
  
Lily, along with Remus and Sirius, zoomed their brooms over to James, who was absolutely glowing in satisfaction, waving the snitch around wildly. They all three tackled him when they reached the ground.  
  
"WE WON, WE WON!" Sirius was shouting over the growing crowd on the pitch.  
  
"YES, 350-200, WE WON!!!!!" Remus shouted along with him.  
  
"James, that was GREAT!" Lily exclaimed, hugging him fiercely, which he gladly returned, and kissed him on the cheek.  
  
Before she pulled away, he whispered in her ear, "Meet me by the lake at seven." Lily nodded to him, still beaming. She was about to say something, but she was engulfed into the crowd.  
  
All day that day, they were all stopped in the hall, congratulated and praised for their wonderful skills that day.  
  
Around lunchtime, most of the students were in the Great Hall. Lily was a little curious about what James wanted to talk to her about, but she didn't pry on the subject, he would tell her then, she just had to wait.  
  
"I can't believe we won." Lily said, still beaming with pride at them all.  
  
"I can, you guys played bloody well today." Frank told them.  
  
James was about to say something, but was interrupted by Rodger Millet, a fifth year Hufflepuff, "Hi Lily." He said somewhat arrogantly. The Marauders knew where this was going. James turned his head towards Sirius, Remus and Peter for a second, raising his eyebrow at them. Sirius and Remus simultaneously shook their heads, their eyebrows raised as well. Peter rolled his eyes at the boy. Lily was listening to him as he congratulated and complimented her, but was inwardly begging for a rescue from one of the guys, "Want to go out with-,"  
  
"Alright, alright," Sirius started, holding up his hand to stop Rodger from continuing. Rodger gulped, knowing he had not passed the Marauder's test. Sirius went on, "What do you think this is, 'Charity Day'? When have we every let her date?"  
  
"I...uh, I mean, uh..." Rodger stuttered, bracing himself for hexing.  
  
James stood up and said in a calm voice, glancing at Lily's pleading eyes before doing so, "Since we're all in a good mood, we'll let this go by." Rodger let out a breath of relief. James went on, "But don't let it happen again."  
  
Rodger shook his head so fast Lily was afraid it would snap in half, "Oh, no sir, I mean, James, it will 'never' happen again. I promise." He said in a quick, high pitched voice.  
  
He just stood there, staring at them all until Sirius spoke up with an eyebrow raised and said in a patronizing voice as though he were talking to a two year old, "You may go."  
  
Rodger turned beat red and rushed off. Lily turned back to the group and said almost sternly, "Honestly you guys, can't you give them a break?"  
  
"You mean you actually wanted to go out with him?" Remus asked incredulously.  
  
"Well, no, but still, everyone is terrified of you guys." Lily sighed and said, fighting off a laugh, "What 'will' I do with you four?"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
'She's not going to show, she's not going to show,' James repeated silently to himself as he checked his watch. 7:05. 'This was a mistake, I should have never told her to come.'  
  
James was outside, by the lake. It was beautiful scenery. The sun was just starting to set and the shimmering water looked like thousands of crystals all in a large bowl. The cool, comforting breeze swayed the trees all around him, making a soothing rustling. James was dressed in his regular school uniform, although he didn't have his tie on and his sleeves were rolled up casually.  
  
He had seated himself on a rock, staring out into the lake, inwardly panicking. Lily had yet to show up, and James was half relieved. Tonight, he planned on telling her about how he felt about her.  
  
Just at that moment, James turned around at a sound. Lily came panting up behind him, looking fluster, but lovely. She too had her uniform on, although she still had her tie on, but it had been loosened. She was probably one of the few that could actually look attractive in that uniform. Her hair stumbled passed her shoulders. James realized just how much it had grew since last year.  
  
She looked incredible.  
  
"I-I'm sorry James. I...I fell asleep...and...just woke...up," she managed to gasp out, clutching a stitch on her side. Her face had a pink tinge to it, and James thought it looked absolutely adorable.  
  
He got up and walked over to her, "That's ok, Lils, it's only 7:08."  
  
Lily smiled at him, still catching her breath and said as she sat down on a rock, and he sat down on one next to it, "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"  
  
James breath suddenly came in ragged gasps. This was it. It was time to finally tell her how he felt. He looked at her squarely in the eye. Her eyes, so green, so wonderfully green, showing concern.  
  
"Is something wrong, James? Is it your family? Did something happen?" she asked, a little frantic.  
  
James shook his head quickly and finally found his voice, "N-no, it's nothing bad. Actually, I guess it depends on your point of view." Seeing her confused looked, he went on, "Um...this is really hard to say." He confessed as he ran his hand through his hair absently.  
  
Lily took his hand in her small one, "James, it's me, you can tell me anything."  
  
James took a deep, "Ok. Y-You see Lily, the thing is, well, I've always liked-,"  
  
"Prongs, Flower, fancy seeing you two here!" a voice shouted from behind them. They both spun around to see Sirius walking casually up to them.  
  
Lily smiled while James hid a scowl. "Oh, Sirius," James began in an emotionless voice, "What on earth are you doing here?"  
  
"I have a date I'm meeting here in a few minutes," Sirius said, leaning up against a tree. "What are you two doing out here?" he asked curiously.  
  
"James wanted to talk." Lily said simply. She had a feeling it was something he didn't want to say in front of Sirius, so she said as she got up of her rock, "We can discuss this later in the common room, alright hon."  
  
James forced a smile and nodded, watching as she walked off.  
  
"Bye Lils!" Sirius shouted after her, she looked back and waved.  
  
James then turned his attention to Sirius, scowling at him in frustration now, "Impeccable timing, Sirius." He said sarcastically before he walked off.  
  
Sirius shrugged, confused, but his attention was captured a few seconds later by his date walking through the lawn towards him. "Kal-lie." He said in a sing-song voice as he offered her his arm.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Despite Lily's words, James didn't get a chance to talk to her alone that night. Or any other night for that matter. Remus made sure that every night was spent on studying. Lily agreed whole-heartedly with him. She had been doing pretty well on catching up on all her subjects. Different people would help her, let her copy down their notes, pronounce the spells correctly for her, and so on.  
  
Pretty soon, before anyone knew it, May 30th, D-day Eve, had come. Literally every 7th year and 5th year, yes every 5th year, meaning Cassandra and her lackeys, were all in the common room till the wee hours of the night, studying like mad. A tense lot they were. One time, around 8:30 that night, a 1st year accidentally made that bed choice of sneezing 'twice'. Halfway through the poor boy's second sneeze, a much stressed seventh year named Edgar Finnly snapped at him to "SHUT UP!"  
  
After that incident, almost all of the lower classmen and sixth years retreated to their dormitory for the night, leaving the others to study in peace.  
  
It was now around 11:30 and Lily and the Marauders were sitting on a couch and arm chairs surrounding the fire. Lily was reading over some of her notes casually, fully confident that she knew this stuff now, Remus, James, and Peter were all reading frantically in their text books, and Sirius appeared to be just as calm as Lily was about all this, for he had fallen asleep in his armchair.  
  
Suddenly, without a warning to anyone else in the common room, Peter shouted insanely, "Tomorrow's the OWLs!" every seventh year "SHHH!" him.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N- I am so sorry it took so long to update. I'm going to stick to the normal, overused excuse of "First Week of School Syndrome". Anyway, enough of my mindless blabbing that no one cares about. How about I type something that is a little bit interesting? Here's the preview ladies and gentleman. Oh, by the way, to EbonyQuill- Is It Really You? will be ending when they die. It still has quite a bit of chapters to go. ;-)  
  
*"I don't know what you are all worried about. It's going to be so easy."  
  
*"Anyone else feel like they're walking to their deaths?"  
  
*"You may begin."  
  
*"That was really hard."  
  
*"I dunno, I thought I did pretty well."  
  
*"So, same thing as last year?"  
  
*"We still need to do an end-of-year prank."  
  
*"Potter, I swear, one of these days..."  
  
*"Oh my gosh! Eww!"  
  
*"Bye Cassandra."  
  
*"You start up your Prefect duties next year."  
  
*"I can't wait to see her again."  
  
*"I can't on the first day. Let's make it the day after tomorrow."  
  
*"I better go get changed."  
  
*"Here we are." 


	31. OWLs

Previously: 

Suddenly, without a warning to anyone else in the common room, Peter shouted insanely, "Tomorrow's the OWLs!" every seventh year "SHHH!" him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

At 7:30 in the morning, the Gryffindor tower was very quiet, which was a _little odd. The first through fourth years, along with the sixth years, were funnily enough, tip-toeing down the stairs and out of the portrait hole, all in a single file, stealing glances to everywhere around the room, where the fifth and seventh years were aimlessly sprawled out, faces snoring into books and parchment in front of them._

Apparently, the fifth and seventh years were just a _tad_ bit rude to the rest last night, so the younger and sixth year children decided to give them what they deserve. They didn't bother to try to wake any of them up.

When the very last person exited through the portrait hole, down to breakfast, none of the previously tense school kids even twitched in response. 

It was around 8:45 when the first of them finally awoke. Lily moaned softly as she moved her head up from its position on James' shoulder. She opened her eyes to a blurry scene. She tried to move all the way to a proper sitting position, but found herself held back by something. Looking over to her right, she smiled affectionately when she saw Sirius leaning his head on her shoulder, a carefree smile on his face. Moving him a little, she sat up and stretched while she yawned. Blinking a few more times to focus her vision, she now looked at the scene around her.

Remus had his head resting on a book on the coffee table in front of them, snoring softly. Peter was in an armchair next to the couch, curled up, and, much to Lily's enjoyment, sucking his thumb. She noticed Cassandra and her two followers sleeping in a nearby corner, some textbooks, and even some fashion magazines sprawled about them. A few seventh years that were seated in a desk last night, were still at their desk with their heads down on them, fast asleep. A few more seventh years were in some corners, snoring loudly. 

Lily laughed softly at them all. 'It must still be early…' she thought, reaching over for her muggle watch. When she actually saw the time however, her eyes widened considerably and finally she said simple, and a little louder than normal, "Oh my!"

James awoke with a little snort and sighed as he said, "Lily, that you?" he reached over for his glasses on the coffee table. 

Lily jumped to her feet, not really hearing James and she then shouted to everyone in the room, "Everyone, wake up!" most everyone jerked awaked and James put his hands over his ears in pain because of Lily's volume of loudness. Everyone turned to look at her, curiously and confused.

"It's 8:55! Get up! The tests are starting in _5 minutes!_" she shouted. In a split second, everyone was up to their feet in frenzy. Most seventh years ran out the portrait hole then and there, ties flying around their necks, yesterday's uniforms still on and _very_ wrinkled, a lot of them were barefoot or just socks on, girls' hair a tangled mane around their heads. Of course, Cassandra, Stacey, and Kelly were freaking out, rushing up to their dormitory for a quick as possibly (45 minutes) shower. Lily and the guys parted to go up to their dormitory to change into presentable uniforms and at least wash their face and teeth.

Lily changed and brushed her hair quickly and rushed into the bathroom to wash her face and teeth. Not caring in the least about makeup, she grabbed her shoes and struggled into them as she hopped down the steps hazardously. She was down to the last five steps, when she lost control of her balance and fell forward, arms coming up from her feet to flail uselessly for the railing. 

Right before she hit the ground, a set of arms shot around her and put her back upright. 

"Thanks, James." Lily gasped out.

"No time for that," James said, pulling her and Sirius by the arms, Remus and Peter following quickly behind, towards the portrait. As soon as they were out of portrait, they all broke into a sprint.

Peter whimpered, "I didn't even get a chance to look over my Transfiguration notes this morning."

Remus rummaged through his papers and textbooks he was balancing in his hands and handed Peter a stack of parchment, "Here, look over it while we're running."

"I don't know what you are all worried about. It's going to be so easy." Sirius said calmly as he jogged along. 

"This coming from the guy that fell asleep last night with minimal amount of studying." James said just as evenly. 

"You guys!" Lily shouted from a couple feet behind, "Slow down a little. I'm smaller than you, you know. My legs are shorter; I can't run as quickly as you."

Without missing a beat, both Sirius and James at the same time grabbed each of her hands and dragged her along.

"H-How much...farther?" Peter gasped out, red faced and sweaty, still looking over the Transfiguration notes.

"Almost there, Petey." James said, relaxed and unfazed by all the running, unlike Peter and Lily.

Finally, they reached the Great Hall where the Transfiguration test would be held for the fifth years first. The seventh years were going to be in a different room for their first test.

Before they opened the door, the five of them all looked at one another, each with a different expression on their faces. Peter, who looked the worst off out of the lot, was sweating and panting as though he just ran a 30 mile marathon. He looked so nervous, almost enough to wet himself. Remus, not sweating, but a little red in the face, was frowning a little and held an uneasy look on his face. James, not at all sweaty or red, was taking deep breaths to calm himself. Lily was panting, but not sweaty or red, clutching a stitch in her side from the running, she did not seem too nervous about the test at all. Finally, Sirius, calm and cool, was just looking a tad bit bored.

"How you guys can run that much and not be fazed by it, is beyond me." Lily said breathlessly, face contorted in pain from the stitch. 

"What can I say," Sirius started, stretching in a fake conceited way, "Some guys just have the talent."

"Yeah that, and we've had in all those Quidditch practices in." James cut in.

"Anyone else feel like they're walking to their deaths?" Peter said abruptly, looking at the door as though it were a snake about ready to strike.

"Calm down, Wormtail, it won't be so bad." Lily said comfortingly.

"Alright, let's do this." Remus said assured.

Sirius put his hand on the knob, about ready to turn it, and looked back at his friends, "Are we all ready? Wormtail?" 

Peter nodded quickly, "Yes, I'm ready."

"Me too." James said.

"Yep." Remus answered.

Lily nodded, giving him thumbs up. 

"All right." Sirius said, "Let's get this over with." He opened the doors and all five walked in…

To be greeted by the strict face of Professor McGonagall.

"I see the fifth year Gryffindors have finally decided to join us. After all," she said sternly, glancing down at her watch, "you all are only fifteen minutes late."

"Is that all?" Sirius blurted out, seeming genuinely impressed. He looked at the other four, "We did well on time." James nodded along with him.

Lily bit her lip to stop a smile forming on her face when she saw the look the severe professor was directing at them. 

Apparently, the other students found Sirius' remark hilarious. At least, his fan clubs did. They all burst out into loud, high giggles, only stopping when Professor McGonagall jerked her head sharply around to give them a frightening glare.

"Find your names and sit down." She said, gritting her teeth. They didn't need telling twice. They all looked around and with the help of their fellow classmates, located name places and sat down.

Lily found hers in between Rebecca Wilst, a peppy Ravenclaw she once helped in History of Magic, and Gary Henderson, a nervous Hufflepuff that reminded her strongly of Peter. In front of her was an empty seat. Lily strained to see what the name card said on the desk and smirked while she shook her head when she saw the name Kelly Abraham. Her and Stacy and Cassandra were still absent, most likely drying their hair.

When Lily turned around to see who was behind her, she was met face to face with Adam Jasper, a Hufflepuff, and he was staring at her with dazed eyes. When he saw she had turned around to face him, he fumbled and blushed, laughing nervously. Lily gave him a half smile, raising an eyebrow, and turned around. She could hear him whisper berating words to himself. She just shook her head and smiled with relief when James took a seat in front of Gary, sitting kitty-corner from her. He looked back and smiled cutely at her, which she gladly returned, despite the fact Rebecca was looking at her with jealousy.

Sirius was seated two seats behind James, meaning he was kitty-corner with Lily from behind, and Lily noticed, stifling a laugh, that the girl who sat behind Sirius, Tristy Berks, was staring at the back of his head, hopeful and lustfully. Remus was two over from Lily from her right side, and one seat back. Peter was three seats ahead of Remus. They all looked at one another, Sirius and Lily supportively, and James, Peter, and Remus nervously.

Professor McGonagall tapped a ruler sharply on a desk from the front row to quiet everyone down. When the attempt was achieved, she began handing out tests, after putting anti-cheating charms on them. It was at that moment that the doors burst opened and in came Cassandra and the other two, looking a bit flustered. McGonagall glowered and barked at them to take their seats. When they did, the Professor went back to handing out tests.

"You may begin."

~*~*~*~*~ Next Day, 2:55~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

They were all seated in the same seats they have been for the last five tests. The final one, was the dreaded History of Magic test. Most of the students were pale and hyperventilating because not one of them had listened to a single lesson in their entire lives. Of course, living up to her title of the smartest witch in Hogwarts, Lily never missed one. She had taken down fantastic notes and had let the Marauders look off of them.

"Alright, everyone." Professor Binns said in a deep, lowly voice that immediately bored every student in the Hall. "No more talking." He started to hand out the tests. 

"And…" he said when all the tests were out and no one was talking, "Begin."

Lily and Remus were the first two finished. They could see it would be a while before everyone was finished, and since they couldn't very well talk to one another, Remus put his head down to rest a little while Lily just stared dreamily into space.

A few of the Ravenclaws finished next, then some Hufflepuffs and Slytherians. Finally, James and Sirius seemed to finish at the same time. James, who had turned his test face down, grinned widely as he yawned and stretched, looking back at Sirius, who gave him thumbs up, then at Remus, who had taken his head off his desk and nodded as he smiled lopsidedly, then to Lily, who snapped out of her reverie and flashed him a bright smile.

Peter was still working with quite a few others. Most had sweat drenching their faces with dread, a lot scribbling and erasing errors. One time when he looked up, face fallen, he caught Lily's eye and she gave him a sympathetic, encouraging half-smile. 

Finally, Binns collected all the tests and that was it. They were finally finished with their OWLs! James and Sirius literally ran out of the hall screaming with joy, while the more sensible Lily, Remus, and Peter just laughed and walked casually out with the rest of the fifth years.

When Lily, Remus and Peter finally met up with the other two again, they walked out to the lake, taking in everything about the sweet summer day. Birds were chirping, not a cloud in the sky, a soft, soothing breeze that smelled faintly of blossoming tulips and roses and lilacs blew through their hair gently, kids laughing and running around, happy all the stress was over. 

They chose a spot under a large beech tree. Sirius climbed onto a lower branch and sat with his feet dangling down. Remus pulled out a book, sitting against the tree, looking very content and peaceful; the full moon wouldn't be coming again for about three weeks. Peter sat next to Remus, pulling out some grass from the ground. James sat down at a nearby rock, leaning back with his hands behind his head casually. Both Sirius and James lost their ties somewhere while they were wrecking havoc after the test, and they both had their sleeves rolled up, trying to be as comfortable as possible in their uniforms. Peter and Remus and Lily still were dressed smartly.   
  


Lily, choosing not to sit down, settled for leaning against the beech tree, staring out into the horizon of the big lake. They all lapsed into a comfortable silence. James set his eyes on her, watching just how beautiful she really was. He just couldn't believe that a human could be that perfect. Everything about her was flawless to him. Eventually, Lily felt someone staring at her and pulled her eyes away from the beautiful scenery to look into his gorgeous eyes.

Again, they felt that same peacefulness they had felt that day in the Infirmary when they stared deep into each other's eyes. James eyes reflected some of Lily's twinkling and they both felt like time had stopped. Smiling slightly at each other, they were pulled out of their trance when they heard Peter finally say, "That was really hard. I betcha I failed." 

"I dunno, I thought I did pretty well. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be." James admitted.

"Same here. With Lily's notes, every question seemed easy." Remus supplied.

"Yes well, as for I, Sirius Black," Sirius began in a mock holier-than-thou attitude, "I believe that without Maiden Lily's oh-so-wonderful notes, I have achieved all Os on my tests."

  "Please, please, Sir Sirius Black," Lily said in a helpless damsel voice, putting her hands over her heart, "Do not let us, oh-so-simple mortals stifle thy great modesty." 

She, Remus, Peter, and James burst out laughing as Sirius jumped down from the tree and started to walk dangerously over to Lily. He picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder.

"Sirius Black, put my _down!" she screeched, not noticing he was walking towards the lake._

"But, my dear lady seemed _very dehydrated and warm. The lass deserves to be cooled down." He answered in a mock concerned voice._

Lily immediately knew what he meant and thrashed around some more, "Sirius you wouldn't _dare!"_

He looked back to the rest of the Marauders, eyebrow raised. James looked a little apprehensive, but nonetheless, his eyes were twinkling mischievously. Remus was quirking his head to the side, his eyebrow raised in question and biting his lip. Peter was laughing wildly, urging him to throw her in.

"_Peter!_" Lily yelled indignantly, "You're taking _his_ side?!"

"What can I say, Lils, I'm just so much more persuasive than you." Sirius said, throwing her in.

Just as she flew out of Sirius' arms, she managed to say, "Yeah RIGHT!" and before Sirius had time to react, she had taken a strong hold of his left arm and held on. They both fell into the lake.

They both emerged to hear Remus, Peter, and James hollowing with laughter at the lake's edge. 

Lily was struck with a plan. She dunked back into the water and unnoticeably latched Sirius' foot with some very strong seaweed. Then, she came back up and started up on some pretty good acting.

She coughed and sputtered, making sure she was far enough away from Sirius, and then gasped out in a panicky voice, "He-elp!" she went under for effect, "Pl-please, you…..guys, I-I can't," she went under again, "s-swim!" she went under a few feet, her hand only visible when it extended.

"Sirius, go help her!" Remus shouted, terrified.

Sirius was struggling, "I-I can't, my foot's caught on some seaweed."

A few bubbles appeared where Lily was. 

"Well, someone has to help her!" Peter shouted.

James was staying quiet, smirking, not too worried. He knew for a fact that Lily had been to plenty of swimming lessons.   

 "You guys, she's _drowning_!" Sirius shouted.

From underneath the water, Lily was holding her breath, waiting impatiently. 

"Alright, fine!" Remus shouted, he jumped in the lake. Peter slipped in after he lost his balance. James stood at the edge, shaking his head at them.

"We're coming Lily!" Remus shouted.

By now, the group had caused quite a commotion. A large crowd had started to gather around. Sirius looked up at James, curiously. Surprisingly, he found that James had burst out laughing. 

Remus and Peter had swum over to Lily and went under to find her. Seconds later, they emerged, along with a main of red hair. Lily's eyes and mouth were closed and she didn't move. 

"Come on, Lily, we got you." Remus said as he and Peter dragged her back over to where Sirius was still prying his foot loose from the weeds. Sirius, Remus, and Peter all crowded around her, looking anxious. 

After what seemed like hours, Lily eyes suddenly opened quickly. The boys jumped in surprise. She spit water on them and started to laugh. They looked at her in question. 

"You dolts!" James said from the land. "Lily's been swimming since she was in diapers."

"Then, then, why….." Peter trailed off.

"Revenge." Lily said simply.

"So we got in here, for nothing?" Remus asked astonished.

Lily smirked and said, "Looks that way."

Sirius looked right into her eyes and said seriously, "You do know what this means, don't you?"

"What?" Lily asked.

"War." He said simply as he dunked her head under.

"Water FIGHT!" James shouted as he jumped in without hesitation. 

The group that gathered around them cheered and shouted as many of them too jumped in, uniform and all.

They spent the whole afternoon out there. It was the best time any of them had in a long time.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was around five o'clock before many of the students actually pulled themselves away from the lake and went in to change so they could get some dinner. The Marauders and Lily all walked over to their beech tree and sat down again.

"So, same thing as last year?" Sirius asked suddenly.

"What?" Remus asked, none of them knowing what he meant.

"We still need to do and end-of-year prank." Sirius said as though it were obvious. 

"Oh yeah," James said, thoughtfully, "We really should think of something new this year, though."

"What do you suggest?" Lily asked.

"I'm not sure yet." James answered.

"Why don't we have another slumber party and we can think of it then?" Sirius said excitedly.

The others looked a little weary of the idea of another slumber party, well remembering what happened at the last one.

Though, Lily looked confused and asked, "When did we have a slumber party?"

"It was when you still had amnesia. That was the night you got it back, though." James said carefully.

"Oh," Lily said, then her eyes got wide with understanding and she said a bolder, "OH!"

"Yeah," Peter said, nodding his head.

"But we shouldn't let that stop us," Sirius whined. "It was fun last time, other than the fact we almost all died."

"That's a pretty large '_almost' Sirius." Remus said._

"I still think we should have one. Come on, this is the second to the last night we're here until next fall, we should do something fun." Sirius argued.

"It's a little weird for a guy to be _this excited for a slumber party. Gosh, it's a little weird for a guy to be excited for a slumber party __period." Lily stated._

"Ah, oh well, we can humor him I guess." James said, "What do you say everyone? Slumber party tonight at 7?"

 Everyone sighed and then nodded in agreement. Sirius whooped and shouted in delight. 

~*~*~*~*~*~

So, after lots of junk food, some truth or dare, and some muggle games of 4 Doors, Bloody Mary, and Stiff as a Board Light as a Feather, the Marauders all managed to achieve a great prank idea, courtesy of Lily and Remus mostly.

Now, everyone in the Great Hall for the end of year feast, they were all excited to see what great prank the Marauders had in store this year. Even the teachers were ready for it. McGonagall was hovering near the Gryffindor table, knowing full well she would be issuing 5 detentions out and probably taking about 50 points off Gryffindor, but that didn't matter, because Gryffindor had already won house cup with 630 points, Slytherians with 560, Ravenclaws with 545, and finally Hufflepuff with 510. 

"Alright, everyone knows what to do?" Sirius whispered. Remus rolled his eyes and spoke for Lily and himself.

"Sirius, _we're_ the ones who came up with it." He said.

Sirius acted as though he hadn't heard him and said, "Alright, everyone on the count of 5. Wands at ready."

They all raised their wands discreetly. 

 "1," Peter whispered.

"2," Remus whispered.

"3," Lily whispered.

"4," James whispered.

"…_5!_" Sirius shouted and they all shouted out their assigned curses.

Swiftly, the Slytherian table turned into puppies. Cute, cuddly puppies that ran around. Some chasing their tails, some ran over to the other students and teachers. Dumbledore was petting a small Dalmatian, chuckling merrily. Even McGonagall had one in her hands, cooing at it. The Hall was filled with small, adorable barks. The Marauders was one on the table in front of them, Lily cooing and making baby noises at it.

"Oh my, aren't you just the cutest thing," she gasped, not noticing James staring lovingly at her.

_'I'm going to marry her one day.'_ He thought to himself, smiling goofily.      

"I think our prank went a little on the girly side this year," Sirius said, noticing how all the girls in the halls were squealing and gasping as they picked one up.

"Well, it _was_ at a slumber party we thought of this." James said, snapping out of his trance.

"Good point." Sirius replied, chuckling as Lily lifted the puppy up to his face and cooed some more.

Suddenly, the puppy Lily was holding started to lick at her face and nipped at her shirt collar. Lily struggled with it as the boys laughed.

"Someone wanna help me?" she said, trying to hold the puppy back from going down her shirt.

"Looks like the pup's got the hots for you, Lils." Sirius laughed. 

 James and Remus eventually decided to help her. But, just as they were making an attempt to grab the puppy, all the others started to change back into Slytherians with a pink bow in their hair and signs above their heads stating, "I love Gryffindors." or "No really, I _am_ as dumb as I look".

The puppy that Lily was holding started to transform back into a Slytherian as well. And when it did, Lily face went ashen and her eyes got wide, "Ewww!" she moaned.

"Snape!" James shouted, glaring daggers at the now normal Snape. James gripped his wand tightly at his side.

"Potter, I swear, one of these days, you'll be sorry you ever did this to all of us." Snape spat out angrily.

"Well, it looks like you had a fun enough time in any case. Trying to go down Lily's blouse!" Sirius shouted while Lily stood on, mortified.

"Sirius!" she exclaimed quietly, "_Shhh!"_

"You know, Snape, you're really pushing it on this whole 'I have a crush on Lily' thing." James said furiously, not hearing Lily, "First, you try to rape her-,"

"_WHAT!!!!?_" Lily roared, not caring if anyone heard them now, eyes blazing with rage.

All the guys jumped at the outburst and turned their heads meekly to her.   

"Oh my gosh!" Lily, a little calmer, a little sicker, breathed out, "Eww!" she put a hand to her mouth, looking a little greener than what would be considered normal. 

"I think I'm going to be sick" she said through her mouth and she ran out of the Great Hall. James turned to Sirius and said, "Take care of him." and ran off after her.

Sirius turned back to Snape and grinned evilly, not caring at all that teachers were looking warily at them. "This is going to so be worth it…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Lily?" James called out, looking for any trace of her. He was just about to go get the Marauders Map and was just nearing Gryffindor tower when he spotted her, walking down the stairs. She looked a little paler than normal and her eyes were glossy. 

"Lily," James said again, quieter. She looked up and saw him, smiling a little, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I just didn't feel well for a little bit," she said.

They looked at each other in silence for a second before Lily said, "He-he didn't _really_ try to rape me…did he?"

James struggled with an answer, "Well, let's put it this way…if we hadn't got there in time, he could have had the chance to. But, you looked like you could have handled yourself very well anyway. When we finally _did_ reach you, it looked like he had been punched a few times."

Lily giggled a little at the thought. "Thanks James," she said quieted.

"Anytime, Flower." He whispered back.

They stared at each other again in silence. Lily broke it again when she said very softly, "James, that time at the lake…when you wanted to talk to me alone? What did you want to tell me?"

James' face paled a little, heartbeat quickening. Now was as good a time as any.

"W-well, you see, Lily, t-the thing is," James stuttered. Lily's face started to form a smile. He looked so adorable when he was flustered. "F-for a while, I-I-,"

"Hey, James, Lily!" someone shouted from behind. Lily turned to look and saw the rest of the Marauders, along with a large crowd going back to their dormitory to finish packing and get some rest for the night. While Lily's back was turned, James silently mouthed frustrated swear words and vented in angry hand motions. Sirius and Remus saw this and exchanged glances.

"Hi there, guys." Lily said, flashing them a smile.

"Well, we took care of the Grease Ball, oh, and by the way, we've each got a detention tonight at 9 for a few hours for the prank." Sirius explained. James and Lily nodded and they with the rest walked into the common room to wait until 9.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Their detention ended up not being too bad. They had it with Professor Flitwick, splitting up into two groups. One, which included Lily, James, and Remus, helped Flitwick grade the last of the homework, and Sirius and Peter helped clean his room.

Now, the next morning, they were standing in front of Hogwarts Express, waiting for it to leave. They all dragged their trunks over to the storage place. James and Sirius put theirs in first, then Remus, then Peter, and James and Sirius put Lily's in for her. Lily took this opportunity to glance around and take a look at her fellow peers. She spotted her roommates a few feet away, getting ready to board. Lily grinned and decided to try something out.

"Bye Cassandra!" she called out. Quite a few pairs of eyes turned to look at her incredulously, including James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter. 

Cassandra's head snapped around, grinning widely, looking for the source of the voice. When she saw that it was Lily who had said that, her grin faded a little, but nonetheless, swallowed hardly and she finally managed to call out in a cool voice, "Later, Evans."

Lily smirked a little, inwardly laughing at Cassandra's behavior. She was such a fake, but it made things a lot more interesting.

"What was that about, Flower?" Sirius asked, brows furrowed confusedly.

Lily shrugged nonchalantly, "I guess we just understand each other."

The boys were convinced enough. They all started to board the train and head to their usual compartment. 

"So Lils, you start up your Prefect duties next year," James said, his arm around her shoulder casually, "Excited?"

Lily nodded, a smile forming on her face, "Yeah, I kinda miss them."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you'll have enough time to act all studious and serious next fall, for now though, you get to relax and goof off," Sirius cut in, stubbornly.

"Oh, hey," James said, glancing over at Lily, "I got a letter from Melly a few weeks ago. She'll be home this summer."

Lily's eyes lightened up. She hadn't seen or spoken to Melanie for quite some time because of Melanie's Auror training taking up all of the summers and holidays. "I can't wait to see her again. You know it's been about 2 years since I have."

James nodded, "Yeah, she says she can't wait to see you either. I think she was going to plan a shopping day with you sometime within the first week we get back."

Lily grinned so widely it looked like her face would crack.

"Well, I have the first day of break planned out for us," Lily started, practically jumping up and down in her seat excitedly, "First, we go to the lake, then, after that, we'll go to a thing called a movie theater-,"

"I can't on the first day. Let's make it the day after tomorrow." Peter said.

"Why not?" Remus asked.

"It's my grandmum's birthday party. I have to go to Spain tomorrow. But the next day, we'll definitely do that." Peter answered.

They continued making plans for the rest of the summer. Finally, they got bored of the topic and they went on to other stuff. Lily and Remus were playing Wizard's Chess on the floor, Sirius, Peter, and James took out a Quidditch magazine each and were reading intently.

Finally, they heard a voice on the loudspeaker telling them that they would be arriving at Platform 9 and ¾ in about five minutes.

"I'd better go get changed, you four should probably do the same," Lily stated.

"Alright, see you in a few," James answered as Lily closed the sliding door behind her.

"So, James," Remus began casually after exchanging a look with Sirius. Peter and James both looked up from what they were doing, "What's been going on with you recently?"

"What do you mean, Moony?" James asked as he struggled into his sweater. A soft, wool dark green one that James knew Lily happened to love.

"Oh come off it, Prongs," Sirius said, changing into his own dark blue shirt, "We've all noticed how different you've been acting around our precious, beautiful flower petal."

James paled a little, surprised, "Y-you have? Like when?" he demanded nervously.

"Like last night, right after we saw you two in the hall after dinner. What was with the little puppet show with silent words?" Remus insisted. He and Sirius smirked; they knew exactly what was going on with James. Peter looked slightly confused, but amused at the same time. 

"And the time at the lake, when I saw you two right before my date with what-her-name." Sirius supplied 

"You _luuurve_ her, don't you." They both mocked at the same time, laughingly.

James blushed, but nonetheless, answered confidently, "Alright, fine! You've figured it out. I do love her."

"Knew it!" Sirius chuckled.

"Knew what?" a new voice interrupted. All four of them jumped in surprise, turning to see the curious Lily standing in the doorway. 

"Lily! Next time, knock! We could have been changing in here!" Sirius exclaimed.

"I did!" she defended herself, giggling, "Plus, it's not like I would see anything I haven't before."

"_WHAT!!!!!_" James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter all roared furiously at the same time. Lily burst out in loud laughs.

"Just joking, guys. Jeez, what kind of girl do you think I am?" she managed to get out between her laughs.

"A girl who won't be going on a date for a long time if we have anything to say about it," Remus muttered, frowning at her joke.

"Oh look," James cut in, "Here we are!"

They all walked out the compartment door, moping amidst Lily's giggles.

"Oh stuff it, Lils." James muttered as she hooked onto his arm, still howling.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N- ok, there's the next chapter. I'm very very sorry about the wait and I hope this long update makes up for it. I won't be putting up a long preview, because, frankly, I got quite a bit of reviews (THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH) and I want to get this out as soon as humanly possible. Thank you again, _everyone_ for reviewing.

*"How about a haircut, Lils, your hair is getting pretty long."

*"It's times like these when I know I'm head over heels for her."

*"Well, it looks like it's just you and me."

*"Isn't that beautiful?"

*"Lily, I wanted to tell you something for quite sometime now, and I'd better do it right now before someone interrupts us." 


	32. The Summer of Surprises

            "See anything, Lily?" Sirius called out to her.

            Lily sighed, still squinting as she searched through the crowd from atop James' shoulders. "Not yet." She called back down. Remus, Peter, and Sirius were gathered around James and Lily, waiting for her to stop a member of one of their families. They figured this would be the best possibility to find their families since the station was jam-packed and Lily was so light that James could easily lift her above his shoulders.

            "Oh, wait," she exclaimed suddenly. "There's Mrs. Pettigrew. Mrs. Pettigrew!" she yelled to the tired-looking lady. She waved her over and then said to Peter, "Peter, your mother is coming this way." Peter nodded.

            "Mrs. Lupin!" Lily shouted amidst the noise and chatter. The cheerful, bubbly woman bustled over to them. "Remus, your mother's coming."

            "Thanks," Remus responded.

            "Mr. Black!" Lily shouted a few moments later. A man with a dark brown beard gazed over her way and waved when he recognized her. "Sirius, your father's coming." Sirius nodded.

            "Do you see my parents yet, Lily?" James called up to her.

            "Nope, not yet." Lily said. Finally, the other three's parents made it through the crowd and were now getting their children's stuff together.

            "Thanks again, Lils!" Remus called up to her.

            "Yeah, we'll see you guys in a few days, alright?" Sirius said.

            "Alright." James and Lily both responded at the same time. 

            And then, it was just James and Lily, looking quite silly, searching for the Potters.

            "There they are, James!" Lily exclaimed.

"Where?" James asked, turning his head from side to side.

"By the big red trashcan." Lily answered, "Now put me down," she said.

Instead of putting her down, though, James just made his way through the crowd while Lily protested, her face flushing with embarrassment from all the looks they got.

"James, Lily!" Mrs. Potter cried out as soon as her eyes made contact with Lily's trademark bold red hair. 

"Hello, Mrs. Potter," Lily replied happily at the same time James said, "Hi mum!"

"Oh, Lily," Mrs. Potter rushed forward and crushed her in a bone-breaking hug. "How are you feeling, dear? You just look so much better than the last time we saw you."

Lily found out something interesting at that moment. It was amazing at how long you could go without fresh oxygen and still be able to get out a forced, "_I'm fine._"

She probably could have gone a few more moments longer and still been able to get out an inaudible, "_Mphimdnek", but it wasn't necessary because at that moment, James noticed her bet red face._

"MUM!" he shouted, rolling his eyes, "Get off her, she can't breath."

"Oh, nonsense, James darling-," Mrs. Potter told her son, nonchalantly, but was cut off when Mr. Potter pulled Lily away from Mrs. Potter's arms, and into his own for a more warm and welcoming hug.

"How are you, Lily?" he asked.

"I'm alright, and how have you been, Mr. Potter?" she asked, gratefully.

"Oh, I'm good. There was a crisis at the Ministry a few days ago, but we managed to get it all sorted out." Mr. Potter said.

Lily frowned a little when she heard the waver of doubt in his voice. But, her thoughts were pushed aside when he quickly changed the subject and said, "So, we'd better get your trunks and head on home. It's a lone drive."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lily forgot just how much she loved the Potter estate. After the long drive, then the exciting reunion of her and Melly, then, unpacking all her clothes, she could think of nothing more comforting and relaxing than to just fall asleep sprawled across her fluffy, warm bed. 

She was now walking along the street of Hogsmeade, a place she had been to just the day before with the intention of heading to her second home, along with Melanie for their shopping spree. The difference between yesterday and today's trip here was that instead of taking the long train ride, they floo'd here instead. Well, to be more exact, _Lily floo'd here; Melly, having acquired her license a few years back, had simply Apparated here. _

"Where to now?" Lily asked, smiling brightly at the older girl. 

Melanie looked thoughtful, then glanced over at Lily, never loosing the pensive face, "How about a haircut, Lils, your hair is getting pretty long."  

Lily shrugged and said, "Sure, might as well. I've been thinking the same thing."

So, they headed into the nearest beauty shop. An hour and a half later, they walked out of the store, feeling relaxed and at ease after Melanie insisted on having the works done on them, which included a manicure, pedicure, facial, aromatherapy, and topping it off with a full body massage. Along with those treatments, Lily got her hair cut and styled to where her hair now reached about a foot passed her shoulders in soft, mesmerizing layers instead of her hip length tresses.   

"We'd better get on home. It's almost four and mum and dad have made reservations at Amarante's at seven." Melanie said, checking her watch.

"Alright," Lily replied, following her.

~*~*~*~*~*~

James was in the second floor parlor, watching a muggle television show as though in a trance. As usual, he was wearing something that would have made normal girls drop into a faint right then and there. He was wearing his pajamas, consisting in dark red flannel pants, and no top. It was customary for him to do this on his first few days off from summer break. Spend all day being as lazy as can be, I mean. 

He was just reaching over to grab the television's remote to change the channel when the fireplace beside him made a few noises and not a second later, Melanie came flying out. While she got up and dusted herself off, James looked weirdly at her and asked, "Why didn't you just apparate here?" 

Melanie shrugged and said indifferently, "Didn't feel like it,"

At that moment, Lily flew out of the fireplace. 

"Are you _still in your pajamas?" Melanie asked, scowling. _

James glanced down and looked at himself. When he met his sister's eye again, he said in a comical, nonchalant voice, "No, these are my party clothes." He rolled his eyes and said, "What does it look like?"  

"C'mon, Melly, you know it isn't good sportsmanship to break tradition. And this," Lily indicated James' form with her hand, "Is about as traditional as you can get."

"Yes, well, nonetheless," Melanie said, still put off, "You'd better start to get ready soon. Mum's made reservations for dinner at 7 o'clock sharp."

"Well, then, I'll probably have to find something a little more comfortable to wear then, won't I." James said good-naturedly. Melanie shook her head as she walked out of the room. 

Lily hopped onto the couch James was sprawled across, sitting on his legs. James fidgeted underneath her and she laughed.

"Well, if you're uncomfortable, move so I can sit here too," she said as though talking to a child.

James stuck his tongue out at her, but nonetheless moved so they were sitting side by side casually, with James' arm around her shoulder as usual.     

They watched cartoons for a little while until Lily got up and stated that she was going to get ready for dinner.

"I suggest you do the same," Lily said, laughing that sweet laugh of hers. 

So, James walked up with her until they reached her room, where James turned left and Lily turned right. It was so convenient that James' room was right across from hers.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Lily, James, Melanie! Best be hurrying be, dears!" Mrs. Potter called up the white marble staircase. 

Just at that moment, Melanie walked down. "Lily's just putting the finishing touches to her hair and James had to find his jacket." She explained, "They'll be down in a few minutes."

Upstairs, Lily opened the door to her room just as James opened his. 

Lily smiled, "You look great James," she said, glancing him over. And she wasn't lying. He looked absolutely hot in a dark blue button up shirt with a dark jacket and matching slacks on. He looked, and Lily giggled inwardly as she thought this, suave and sophisticated dressed like that. Was this seriously the guy that just a few short hours ago was striding around in his pajamas?

James' eyes practically popped out of its sockets when they fell upon Lily. For a second, James actually lost his voice. Once he realized she was staring at him, he forced himself to stay casual and said with full sincerity, "You look absolutely beautiful, Flower." He let his eyes glance over her again. From the tips of her high heeled black shoes, up to her knee length elegant black dress, finally landing into her emerald orbs.

Lily coughed quietly then said, "Well, shall we?"

James nodded and the two walked down the stairs. The next thing implanted itself into James' mind where he decided this had to be the most embarrassing thing in the entire world.

And it started out with Mrs. Potter's squeals of delight. 

"_Oh_! You two look _adorable!_" she screeched. "You look like you're going to one of those muggle dance thingies-,"

"A prom," Lily supplied, her face beginning to glow a humiliating shade of pink.

"Yes, dear, a _prom! Oh, oh, I wish I had a camera!" she gushed._

James, who had been looking warily at his mother for any sign of teenage danger from her, caught something that wasn't right. Tearing his glance away from his mum, he narrowed the brown orbs in question as Melanie walked a few feet away from them to a desk. James' eyes widened. Oh, this was just _unacceptable._

'Not the top drawer.' He silently pleaded, '_Please not the top drawer.'_

Well, then, _of course_ Melanie's hand went up and pulled the top drawer open and out she pulled a black wizarding camera. 

In James' perspective, the next few moments went in slow motion. From the time Melanie turned around snail paced to him, then, her deep drowned on slow voice saying, "Here you go, mother.", to Mrs. Potter's deep sluggish, "Smile."

As though looking at himself from out of his body, James put his arm around Lily and they both fake smiled for the camera, inwardly gritting their teeth in humiliation.

…The first law of a mother's so called 'rights' is to make your child feel as mortified as humanly possible. 

That night turned out to be a fun night nonetheless, although James was silently indignant at his mother. Honestly, how _degrading!_

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A month had passed by the Potter estate. Today, July 1st, Lily was fast asleep in her bed. A few more minutes later, the sunlight streaming into her window reached her face, showering her with a golden glow, thus waking her up. She opened one eye a little and made out a blurry figure looking down at her. She jumped in surprise and opened both eyes, blinking rapidly to focus her vision which resulted in her seeing the grinning face of Sirius.

"Sirius," she said thickly, "What are you doing in my room?" she looked around and caught three more surprises. "What are you all doing in here?" she asked, more awake now.

"Bored." Remus said simply fro his place on the ground, studying her collection of books and novels on her bookcase. James tore his gaze away from her form from his seat on her plush, white loveseat. Peter was fooling and messing around with some of her knick-knacks on her vanity. 

She looked over at her bedside table and saw the clock. To her astonishment, it read 9:12. "Do you guys know you're up before 11?" she asked, genuinely surprised. 

"Trust me, if I had any say in that matter, I would still be in bed. But, of course, the Three Stooges here barged into my room around 8:30. How on earth they got up that early is beyond me." James explained.

Remus shrugged, "It was Peter here that woke me up."

"And Remus and Peter woke me up," Sirius supplied.

"So, this all traces back to _Peter, eh?" James said in a mock accusing tone. _

"What were you doing up that early, Peter?" Lily asked, stretching, kicking Sirius with her foot from underneath the covers.

"My mum made me clean my room today before I could go over to anyone's house. She said I couldn't use magic, so I figured it would take a few hours, so I got up around 7." Peter said, "But, then, I just decided to ask my dad to clean it for me. He didn't mind."

"Well, I guess I'd better get up and get dressed." Lily said, standing up.

"Nice jammies." Sirius said, laughing a little.

Lily looked down at her attire and smiled. Her yellow rubber duckie pajamas were quite a sight. 

She walked over to her dresser and pulled out a few clothing items, walked out the door saying, "I'll be a few minutes!"

"So, what do you guys want to do today?" James asked lazily. 

"Well, it looks pretty warm outside," Remus commented, now looking out her balcony window before opening the doors and walking out. A few seconds later, he walked in, shivering a little, "But it doesn't _feel warm outside. It's gotta be like 60 degrees out."_

"Wonderful weather to have in July," Sirius supplied sarcastically, walking over to look out the window as well.

  They talked a few more minutes before Lily came back in, sporting a green halter top and shorts.

"I'd put something warmer on if I were you," Peter said.

Lily frowned in question and asked, "How come, it looks beautiful outside."

"It may look beautiful, but it feels like winter." Remus answered.

Lily nodded her head, needing no more prompting as she made her way to her dresser again and pulled out some more clothes and walked out of the room. 

"I got it," Remus exclaimed after a moment, "Why don't we play that muggle sport, Football?"

"Oh, yeah, that's a pretty good game," James commented. 

"What's Football?" Peter asked, his face matching the one of the confused Sirius.

"Oh, are we playing football?" Lily said from the doorway, now wearing a warm rusty colored sweater and jeans. 

"Yeah, I think that would be pretty fun." Remus said.

"We'll need another person so the teams will be even." Lily said, looking over at James.

"Melanie's not here today," James said, answering her silent question.

"How about Eric?" Sirius spoke up.

"Is he back in town yet, Remus?" Lily asked.

Eric was Remus' brother, 5 years the senior. In his second year, Tammy Rodgers, his steady girlfriend, as steady as you could get at that age, moved to France and switched schools in the process. Eric begged and begged his parents to let him go. At first, they were understandably reluctant, but they finally gave in, and it's a good thing they did because Eric proposed to her just last Christmas. 

"Yeah, he just got back from college few days ago." Remus replied, and then said a bit more doubtfully, "He probably won't want to start a game, though."

"Not a problem," Sirius said confidently, "Just have Lily go along with you to ask."

"Yeah, you know he's always had a soft spot for her," Peter said.

It was true. Ever since she met him the summer after their first year, the year she started to live with the Potters permanently, the older Lupin son felt just as protective as the Marauders were to her. He could never say no to her.

So, sure enough, twenty minutes later, James, Sirius, and Peter were in the Potter's large backyard and soon saw Remus, Lily, and an older boy with short dark brown hair and bluish-grey eyes walking with them.

"Hey Eric," Sirius and James greeted as Peter just waved and smiled.

"Hey, Sirius, James, Peter, how's it going?" Eric asked.

"Pretty good, now, let's play some football!" Sirius whooped.

"Ok, I'll be a captain, and how about Sirius as the other one," Eric suggested.

"Who goes first?" James asked.

"I will," Sirius said, "I pick Jamsie,"

"Don't _call_ me that!" James objected as he walked over to his best friend's side.

"Remus," Eric picked.

"Lily-billy," Sirius chose.

"And we get Peter, alright everyone let's play!" Remus said.

(Not going into details, sorry)

They ended up playing the game all day, without lunch even. Around 5:30, when they finally decided to end the game, you could find Sirius cheering, holding Lily up in the air, and Eric healing a cut above Peter's left eye after Sirius had tackled him earlier in the game.

"YEAH! WE _WON!!!!!" Sirius shouted amidst Lily's laughs and protests._

James, who was at the other end of the field after score the final touchdown, panted for breath and stared at Lily. Remus saw this and walked over to him.

"See something interesting?" he said, initiating conversation.

James caught his breath and paused, never once looking away from Lily. When he finally did speak, it was soft and full of wonder, "You know," he began, "its times like these when I know I'm head over heels for her."

He said it with such sincerity that Remus took his gaze away from Sirius and Lily and brought them upon James, wonderingly. "You really do love her, don't you." he said almost incredulously. 

James sighed and ran his hand through his hair, "It's weird, I've known her my whole life, and ever since the first day I met her, I had thing feeling, this strange feeling in the pit of my stomach every time I see her. I never knew what it was, all I knew, that was when I did see her and feel it…it was the greatest feeling in the world. 

It started to increase in third year, when I first realized that I liked her. Now, though, it's like it had burst through my entire body. I just recently understood what that feeling was."

"What was it?" Remus asked, listening intently.

James tore his gaze away from Lily and looked Remus square in the eye, "It was love. Not even the friendship love. I want to be with her, and only her. It's odd feeling this way at this age."

"Hey, look at Eric," Remus reasoned, "he knew he loved Tammy since second year. You can't help when it happens, but when it does, it only happens once."

James looked back over at Lily as Remus went on, him looking over at her as well, "And when it does, James, you have to hold onto it, and never let it disappear."

Without another word, Remus walked over to his brother and Peter, leaving James to contemplate his words. 

"Sirius!" Mrs. Potter shouted from the mansion, "Your mother wants you home now."

"I'll see you guys later. My mum made reservations celebrating my cousin's graduation." Sirius said, waving goodbye to everyone.

"My grandmum is coming over for dinner. I had better go as well." Peter spoke, waving goodbye to them as well.

"We'd better go, too, Remus." Eric said, giving his younger brother a noogie, "Mum said she wanted us home by 6 for dinner."

"See ya, James, Lily!" Remus said.

Eric hugged Lily tightly and clapped James on the back, "Good game, James. And Lily, it was great to see you again. We'll have to do something again."

They stared at Remus and Eric as they walked away until they were out of view. 

"Well, it looks like it's just you and me." James finally spoke up.

Lily smiled brightly at him, "What do you want to do?"

"Wanna go to the lake for a while and just sit?" James suggested. Lily nodded and the two walked off.

Thirty minutes later, they were seated on the waters edge, Lily staring at the sunset intently.

She sighed and said softly, "Isn't that beautiful?"

James was staring at her, butterflies building up in his stomach again. This was definitely it. No Sirius strolling up to them before his date. No Marauders interrupting them in the halls. No, they were all alone.

James cleared his throat nervously and finally, after a long pause, said in a confident tone, "Lily, I wanted to tell you something for quite sometime now, and I'd better do it right now before someone interrupts us."  

The seriousness in his voice caught Lily's attention. Looking worried a little, she grabbed his hand and asked concerned, much like she did the time at the lake up at Hogwarts, "Go ahead, James."

"L-Lily, f-for sometime, now, I-I…felt-,"

"Hey, Lily, James!" Melanie popped out from the trail leading up to the lake, "There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you."

_'No no no, this _won't _happen again!' James thought to himself determinedly. _

"…anyway, since I'm home now, mum and dad want to go to-," Melanie went on, but was cut off by a heart stopping announcement that not even stunned Lily and Melanie, but, the speaker, James himself.

"Lily, I'm in love with you!"  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A/N- ok, my computer finally works again, so I'm all good and the chapter _finally_ got done. Well, James finally did it, now we just have to wait to see what Lily's reaction will be. Since I made you wait so long, I don't what to stall anymore by putting previews up. I'll just say that this next chapter will be a doozie. Hope ya liked it! And again, I'm sorry for the wait. 


	33. Finally Together

Previously:

"…anyway, since I'm home now, mum and dad want to go to-," Melanie went on, but was cut off by a heart stopping announcement that not only stunned Lily and Melanie, but the speaker, James himself.

"Lily, I'm in love with you!" 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The effects those words had on them all were incredible. Melanie, who had been chewing muggle bubble gum, dropped her jaw and the wad fell to the ground. Lily's head snapped around to stare at James, a puzzled expression upon her face. James himself looked like a blowfish, mouth opening and closing every few seconds, absolutely _shocked_ that he did that. This had to be the most horrifying thing that has ever happened to him, which was incredible because his mother wasn't the one responsible for it. 

Nobody said anything, or for that matter, _moved, for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, Melanie came to her senses, stood up unsurely, and brushed herself off clumsily, stuttering and sputtering until she could finally form an audible sentence, "U-Um, I'm going to…t-to g…yeah. I'll be…somewhere else." She quickly ran off._

That left just Lily and James. They just stared at each other, James looking utterly terrified and Lily looking pensive. Lily spoke after a few minutes, her voice soft and soothing, "Is it true?"

James gulped and nodded, stuttering out, "Y-yeah."

Suddenly, her eyes changed from confusion and thoughtfulness, to sparkling and hopeful. Her face broke out into an unsure grin and she said through a gasp, "Really?" She grabbed his hand again and squeezed it as a question of reassurance. He squeezed back.

"Yeah," he said softly, almost a whisper, "I-I think I've loved you since the beginning of the year." He met her eyes again, secretly waiting for her to say the thing he wanted to hear from her.

It was like she had read his mind. She bit her lip, then said, "I-I loved you since 4th year."

James was very surprised to see tears forming in her eyes. He reached over and wiped the fallen ones. She let out a shaky laugh, running her hand through her hair nervously.

"I-I was afraid that you didn't like me that way." She explained, "You always had girlfriends and whatnot-,"

"All to keep my mind off of you." James cut in firmly, "I wasn't sure if you liked me that way either. I figured I wasn't good enough for you."

"You could _never _not be good enough for me." Lily protested, "James," she went on very softly and sincerely, "You're…you're everything to me. You've been my rock for half my life, and if you hadn't moved away all those years ago, you would have been my rock for my whole life. I love you."

Without another word, James closed the distance between them and kissed her passionately, both filled with an overwhelming amount of emotion. It was like every time they hugged, only the feeling they had in their stomachs was multiplied by a thousand. James ran a hand through Lily's soft curls and Lily put a hand on the side of his face gently. 

James never wanted to let go for fear of loosing this precious moment. But, when he did pull back, his eyes connected with Lily's. He pulled his eyes away from her amazing orbs and studied every feature on her face. Her perky nose sprinkled lightly with freckles, her beautiful, and swollen from the kiss, lips, her left cheek that supplied a dimply every time she smiled; everything about her was astonishing. So perfect.

"I love you too."

They kissed once more and then talked quietly as they watched the sun set the rest of the way, James holding Lily protectively. Lily never felt more safe and wonderful than at that moment.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The very next day, Lily was woken from her sleep by a soft kiss. She breathed in deeply and opened her eyes with a sigh, seeing the adorable face of her official boyfriend. 

"Good morning, sweetie," James said, pushing some hair out of her face. She sat up more.

"_Wonderful_ morning, love," she whispered. They were moving closer for a real good morning kiss when the door to Lily's room opened and they instinctively sprang apart. 

"Lady Lily, wake thou up-ith!" Sirius' booming imitation of an Old English accent came from the doorway. 

Lily stole a glance at James the exact moment Sirius, Remus, and Peter all walked in.

"Aw, here be-ith thy court jester and thy fair maiden!" Remus said, plopping down on Lily's loveseat. 

"Yeah," Peter said, cracking up, "We be-ith waiting in the James' room for a half hour…ith." He said, unsurely. 

Sirius and Remus shook their heads, ashamed. Lily stole another glance at James and saw he was looking back at her. She bit her lip in question. James nodded his head, smiling widely. 

"You guys," Lily said, "We have to tell you something."

James took Lily's hand in his. Sirius caught this act and raised an eyebrow at them. Remus just smiled knowingly. Peter was to busy looking at Lily's knick-knacks again to really pay attention.

"We're officially…a couple." James proclaimed. Peter dropped one of Lily's unicorn figures and snapped around in surprise. Sirius without hesitation ran over and embraced them both fiercely.

"P-Padfoot, you're beginning to act like my mother," James wheezed out, turning red from lack of oxygen.  

Sirius pulled back and grinned apologetically. 

"Congratulations, you two." Remus said, smiling widely at them. He gave James a prideful look and James nodded at him gratefully. 

"Wow," Peter said, eyes wide open. "So, you two really are going out?"

Lily nodded happily, "Yep, as of last night."

"Always knew you two would end up together," Sirius said voice beaming with satisfaction.

"Who else knows?" Remus asked.

"Melanie does, that's for sure," Lily said, giggling when she saw James turn red.

"Do I sense a funny story?" Sirius asked, plopping himself down on Lily's bed beside James.

"It's nothing," James said firmly amid Lily's now full fledged laughs, "I just said some stuff right in front of my older sister. Ya know, nothing out of the ordinary."

 "He told me he loved me in front of her," Lily gasped out, hugging him as she said it.

Sirius, Remus and Peter all howled with laughter and Sirius clapped James on the back. James smiled wryly. 

"Now everyone," Lily said after they finished their teasing, "you must get out now, I have to change."

"Oh we don't mind," Sirius said, lying on his back, relaxed. 

"I'm sure James doesn't," Peter said, jokingly. 

Lily tried to look stern as she pushed them all out of the room, James being the last, leaving room for a small kiss. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next few weeks were a blast for them all. They did everything from muggle amusement parks, to simply lounging around in the Potter's entertainment room. Lily's birthday came and went, earning her plenty of beautiful presents from the guys, Melanie, and the Potter's. 

Despite all the activities and games the Marauder's and Lily went through, both James and Lily sensed trouble brewing with Mr. Potter. Lily shared her thoughts with James about the day they got off the Hogwarts Express and saw his parents. The hesitation in Mr. Potter's voice when he said everything with the Ministry was worked out. James told Lily about the time he was walking through the house around 2 in the morning for a midnight snack. He walked through the hall, passing his father's study, suddenly pausing when he heard a voice in there.

James had peaked around the opened door curiously, and saw his father arguing with some man's head in the fireplace. James said that his father's exact words were, "I don't care if they did find those in my desk, THEY WEREN'T MINE! He cannot take over! It's immoral!"

This left both Lily and James bewildered. They decided to let the subject drop and focus more on their relationship. Mrs. Potter, of course, had been ecstatic when she heard the news of the two finally going out. Mr. Potter had congratulated them more civilly while James' mother _had to hug them. _

All that past them, leaving the five children at August 3rd. The day the trouble started. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"James. In your boxers again, buddy?" Sirius said, flopping down next to him on the sofa in the entertainment room.

"Would you expect anything more?" James said, mock astonished. 

"Never from you, Prongs," Peter answered as he reached over for the remote and flipped through the muggle television. 

"Where's Lily?" Remus asked from his seat on the big plush chair a few feet away.

James opened his mouth to reply, but Lily's voice answered for him, "She's right here."

James turned his head to watch her walk into the room. She smiled and sat next to him on the side that didn't contain Sirius. 

"And how is the most beautiful girl in the world today?" James asked, moving his arms around her waist.

"Who me?" Lily giggled.

James moved his face closer to hers and whispered, "I don't know of any other gorgeous girl that matches your beauty."

Lily laughed quietly and they both started to kiss. "Ugh! You guys, get a room!" Sirius exclaimed. They've been like this ever since they announced they're being a couple. 

"This is a room," James managed to get out through a kiss.

Suddenly, about ten pillows came hurling their way. "Alright, Alright! We'll stop!" Lily cried out, smiling. 

"So, what do you guys want to do today?" Peter asked, looking absolutely bored with the TV set. 

"Oh," Lily exclaimed, "Well, we could-,"

Unexpectedly, Lily was cut off by Mr. Potter's shouts from the other room. "I cannot _believe_ they did this to us!!!"

"Harold, dear, it's not so bad," came Mrs. Potter's plea-filled voice.

The Marauders exchanged confused glances and all at once arose from their seats and followed the shouts.

"What's going on?" James exclaimed, walking into the kitchen. They all saw the hectic scene in the kitchen. Lily immediately felt dread in the pit of her stomach. Never in all the years she stayed here has she seen Mr. Potter look so upset. He was glaring at an issue of the Daily Prophet lying on the kitchen table where Melanie sat with her uneaten breakfast in front of her. She sat frozen and pale, looking down at the paper as though it were death itself. Mrs. Potter appeared as though she were about to cry, standing near Mr. Potter, looking down at the paper as well. None of them even looked as though they heard James' question.

"What's going on?" James asked again after receiving no answer.    

This time, his mother looked up at them and motioned them to come nearer. "Horrible news, dear." She said thickly. 

They all gathered around the table and read an article from the paper, eyes widening and faces paling with every word they took in.

"_'Minister of Magic Released From Office!'_!" Sirius read indignantly. 

"How on earth could this have happened, Mr. Potter?" Lily asked angrily. 

"Dad, you're really released?" James cut in.

"Apparently," Mr. Potter began, trying to stay calm for the children's sake, "They on the board at the Ministry believed that I had in my possession a few dark magic weapons that they had been looking for for quite some time. They have also believed that the Assistant Minister of Magic, Jacob Wellington III and Secretary Arnold Crest held some weapons as well."

"They fired you? What evidence do they have?" Remus exploded.

"They claim they found some of the supplies in my desk at the Ministry and the same for Jacob and Arnold." James' father said bitterly.

"Who have they got to replace you?" Peter said faintly. 

"A real weasel named Cornelius Fudge." Mr. Potter spat out. "I never have liked him. I was always trying to get him sent to Azkaban. Sneaking, mysterious he is. Friends with all the pure blooded families like the Malfoys and Crabbes. I always had a feeling that he was working for the Dark Side. But, apparently, the board doesn't feel the same way because I have 24 business hours to clear out my office, along with Jacob and Arnold."

'_So that's what dad was talking about that night in his study_.' "Who have they got to replace those two?" James asked.

Mr. Potter shrugged, "I don't know. Fudge will probably choose when he gets into office." Mr. Potter banged his hand on the table so loudly that everyone in the room jumped. "_With that man running the wizarding world every muggle-born, half-blood, any non full blooded witch or wizard is in danger!" _He shouted passionately. 

Lily fell slowly down into a chair and put her face into her hands. James rubbed her back comfortingly, "What do we do now?" she said softly. 

"There's nothing we can do." Mr. Potter said, now sounding and looking older than he really was. He too slowly sat down.

"There's gotta be something!" Sirius exclaimed.

"There isn't. As it is, Harold's only lucky he wasn't sent to Azkaban himself." Mrs. Potter answered, speaking for the first time in a while.

"Technically, they have enough evidence against him. We can only assume that so many people know and did respect him enough that they don't want him in there," Melanie spoke.

They all were silent for a while. Then, Mr. Potter spoke in a very quiet, pained voice, and said something so serious, it made their spines shudder, "It's a good thing you five are going back to Hogwarts. Unfortunately, it's the only safe place in the world right now."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

September 1st came by very quickly. After the Marauders had heard the horrible news about Mr. Potter, the days were more horrible than the next. It wasn't a drastic change with the wizarding world. Just little things seemed to happen. Someone right in Diagon Alley had the nerve to shout some obscenities to James' father as they were all gathered there for school supplies. 

So there they were, on the platform 9 and ¾ pushing their trolleys along. They hadn't seen Cassandra yet, but they were sure she was taking the news of her father's release pretty badly. After all, that was who she was known as, daughter of the Assistant Minister of Magic.

The platform was packed. Lily could barely see the train over people's shoulders so she let Sirius, the tallest there, guide the way. Finally, they made it to the trolley compartment and pushed theirs in. James took Lily's for her, so she was free to glance around at the passing people. 

Suddenly, something caught her eye. Someone was there who wasn't supposed to be. 

She paled considerably, so by the time James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter got their trolleys in there and turned around to face her, her face was as white as snow and she wasn't at all blinking. In fact, the only movement she made was with her legs, which were carrying her backwards until she felt the trains metal against her back and she could backup no more.

"Lily, love, what is it?" James asked, concerned. 

Lily's trembling form stayed the same as she utter one word, still looking at whatever was frightening her, "Malfoy."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N- hope you all liked this chapter. Please review!!!

*"Oh my God, it's Malfoy!"

*"Didn't you know? Mr. Fudge allowed me to return."

*"You better stay away from her."

*"Oh, this is precious. A Potter and a Mudblood."

*"I'd watch my back if I were you."

*"C'mon guys, let's just go find a compartment."

*"I don't need your pity! The Wellington name will still hold meaning!"

*"I'm fine; it's just a lot to take."

*"Remember, we have to go to the Prefects compartment in a while."

*"It's starting to rain."

*"I'm going to find the trolley lady and get us some snacks."

*"I wonder why we're stopping."

*"What happened to the lights?"

*"Oh no. Deatheaters."

*"We've got to get Dumbledore down here. And _quick!"_

~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N- alright, I did only half. I'm so sorry, but my goodness you guys, I actually got _30_ reviews on this. I'm so proud of you! And, to answer champtennis's question, yeah, her parents died because of Lord Voldemort. If you wanted to read it, it's chapter 14 Many Happenings.  Thanks for reviewing; I'm glad you like it!

Thanks again to _every_ reviewer! You are all so wonderful!


	34. So We Meet Again

Previously:

She paled considerably, so by the time James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter got their trolleys in there and turned around to face her, her face was as white as snow and she wasn't at all blinking. In fact, the only movement she made was with her legs, which were carrying her backwards until she felt the trains metal against her back and she could backup no more.

"Lily, love, what is it?" James asked, concerned. 

Lily's trembling form stayed the same as she utter one word, still looking at whatever was frightening her, "Malfoy."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_"What?!"James exclaimed while the three other Marauders whipped around and scanned the crowd with wary eyes._

Lily's gaze never wavered. She slowly raised her wavering right arm and pointed with her index finger to a certain spot in the crowds. They all four followed the gaze and finally found themselves looking straight at the blonde haired, cruel boy himself. He, like Lily, was just standing completely still. Though, he, instead of a look of pure horror, had an evil smirk upon his face, cold hard eyes never leaving Lily's.

Finally, Lily moved, inching closer to James instinctively. She dropped her arm, and said in a voice that sounded to be on the brink of hysterical, "It's Malfoy. _Oh my God, it's Malfoy!" _

"What the hell is he _doing here?" James said so quietly they almost couldn't hear him. He wrapped his arm around her small frame and grabbed her hand with his free one, calming her down._

"The git's coming over here," Sirius murmured furiously. Lily's eyes caught Sirius fingering his wand cautiously. 

"It's alright, Lily," Remus said, his gaze not on her but glaring at the approaching Malfoy, "He won't lay a finger on you while we're here."

"Well well well, if it isn't the Gryffindor-geeks." Malfoy drawled when he reached them. 

"What the hell are you doing here, Malfoy?!" Sirius demanded angrily.

Malfoy raised one eyebrow and looked at him, a look of mock surprise on his face, "Didn't you know?" he paused and then turned to look James right in the eye as he continued, "The new Minister of Magic, Mr. Fudge, allowed me to return." He smirked.

Lily's eyes widened greatly as she spoke, horror-struck, "You're admitted back to Hogwarts?!"

Malfoy turned to her, "That's right, Mudblood. Aw, and I see you're up and about again. Had a little spill, did you?" he said tauntingly.

Lily glared back at him defiantly, "No thanks to you." 

"Well, there's bound to be another time. After all, as the old saying goes, 'History always repeats itself'." He stopped, a significant look in his eye, "In the _strangest_ places, might I add. From the people you would least expect..." he stepped closer to her and she felt James' arm tightening. He said very, _very quietly, "Or maybe it could be the person you expect the most."_

"You better stay away from her." Remus said in his calm, yet dangerous voice. 

"And if I don't?" he said, initiating an argument, not taking his eyes off Lily.

"You'll wish Fudge hadn't allowed you to return," James said angrily. 

"Such a pretty little thing she is. Wouldn't want someone to…mistreat her." Malfoy went on, seeming to not even acknowledge him. Lily tensed when she thought she saw a lustful, animal look upon Malfoy's face. But it was gone before she could be sure. 

    James felt her tense and gripped her hand tighter. Malfoy caught this and started to smirk again. "Oh, this is precious. A Potter and a Mudblood." A disgusted look fell upon his face as he spoke to James with a voice full of sarcasm and contempt, "Your parents must be _thrilled_."

"They are," James said forcefully.

"G-get out of here, Malfoy." Peter spoke for the first time, his face pale, his form trembling violently. 

Malfoy vehemently stalked to Peter, causing him to squeak in terror, "And if I _don't_, you little half-blood, what will _you_ do about it?" 

Peter's mouth opened and closed like a gold fish out of water, an occasional squeal emitting. 

Sirius now pulled his wand all the way out of his robes, pointing it heatedly at Malfoy, "Get the bloody hell out of here Malfoy!" he exclaimed.

Malfoy eyed the wand warily with his eyes set in a glare. Looking one last time at Peter, he turned and walked towards the train, but not before saying to the five of them, "I'd watch my back if I were you this year." He turned again to face them, a calm look upon his face, though Lily could see the fury and cruelty in his eyes, "Your time is coming." And with that, he boarded the train. 

Lily realized just how tight James was holding her then. Squeezing his hand, she saw him relax a little.

"I can't believe Fudge allowed that git to come back to Hogwarts." Sirius ranted.

"I can't believe _Dumbledore allowed him to return." Remus said, bewildered._

"One thing's for sure. Lily will _not be going anywhere alone __at all this year!" Sirius went on furiously, not loosing his train of thought. "He's tried to kill her once, he'll try it again!"_

"Calm down, Sirius," Lily said pleadingly. His ranting was alarming her, mostly because it held truth within it. Sirius was right. Malfoy tried once, and he'll try again. What was stopping him? After all, if Dumbledore wouldn't keep him out of Hogwarts, no one would. 

"Why on earth would Dumbledore allow him to return? He had proof that Malfoy attempted to kill Lily," Peter said, just as bewildered as Remus.

"Fudge must have overruled him on this." James said, coming into the conversation. His knowledge of politics from his father was kicking in, "Technically, the Fudge has more power than Dumbledore. Sure, Dumbledore may have _a lot _more respect from everyone than Fudge does, but that doesn't matter. Fudge holds office to Minister of Magic; that makes him in charge of the wizarding world. And that includes Hogwarts."

Lily swallowed visibly. Sirius had finally calmed down and was shaking his head, disgustedly. Remus looked absolutely lost. How could Dumbledore have _no_ power in this? Peter looked as terrified as ever. James was staring at the ground, scowling, his free hands jammed into his pockets.

They just sat there in silence, the voices of other people from the crowds filling their ears. Finally, Sirius spoke up, face set in a revolted way, "You know, James, your father was wrong about something." James and the rest looked up at him; he went on, shaking his head, "Not even Hogwarts is safe now."

Peter shuddered, as the others let Sirius' words sink in. Lily sighed quietly and said in a whisper, tugging on James, "C'mon guys, let's just go find a compartment."

They nodded and followed her onto the train. 

Lily, in front, pushed her way through the mass of students, old and new, in the halls. She was about to open a compartment to look in when suddenly, someone bumped into her. Lily looked up and found herself face to face with Cassandra Wellington. 

"Hello Cassandra," Lily said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster up, still rather shaken with all that just happened within a span of fifteen minutes.

"Hello Evans," Cassandra answered stiffly, straightening her shoulders, holding her head high, very snobbishly. She had grown a little during summer break, reaching about 5 inches passed Lily's small frame. 

"How was your summer?" Lily asked politely, aware of James and the rest of her friends approaching through the throng of students. 

"It was lovely," Cassandra said, a little coolly and with a trace of sarcasm.

Lily paused, waiting for Cassandra to say something else. When it became evident that she had no intention of going on, Lily spoke, "Well, I had a lovely summer as well. All though, towards the end of it, it sort of went downhill."

Cassandra pursed her lips a little. Finally, as Lily went on, she snapped, "Listen Evans, I don't need your pity!" she practically shouted.

Lily jumped a bit at the outburst, surprised. "W-what do you mean, Cassandra?" she asked, genuinely confused.

 "I know you're just trying to find a way to start talking about my father and his departure from the Ministry. Well, I have news for you, little Miss Nosey, with or without the dumb Ministry, the Wellington name will still hold meaning!" with that, she huffed passed Lily and the Marauders, who were all gaping at her.

Lily scratched her head, a little befuddled at what had just taken place. She looked back at James for answers, but he just shrugged and said, "Don't fret about it Lily, she's always had her knickers in a twist."

Lily shrugged and sighed as she turned around and opened the compartment door in front of her, inwardly celebrating that it was void of any students.

 She took a seat, leaning back against the cushioned backrest, and closed her eyes. James took a seat next to her, Sirius, Remus, and Peter taking seats across from them. 

She rubbed her forehead; a trait that James knew well enough to realize that Lily had a major headache.  "Lily, love, are you alright?" he asked, taking her hand in his.

She opened her eyes to look at him, smiling gently, "I'm fine; it's just a lot to take within the duration of twenty minutes. First Malfoy, now Cassandra." She sighed, "What will be next?" she asked rhetorically.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They spent a good three hours of the train ride trying to keep up a light conversation. Remus and James even started a chess game.  

James, after loosing another game to Remus, turned to look back at his girlfriend. "Remember, we have to go to the Prefects compartment in a while." He reminded her. She took a look at her muggle watch and nodded.

"We have about thirty minutes." She said.

Those thirty minutes passed by quickly and before they knew it, Lily and James were walking along the narrow hall to the prefect's compartment. Lily looked lazily out the window and said nonchalantly to James, "It's starting to rain."

James looked out another window and said, grinning back at her, "Doesn't look the cheeriest outside today, does it?"

Lily smiled back and shrugged, "I like it. It feels cozy in here."

James grabbed her hand, and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. Finally, they reached the compartment, they hands breaking apart. 

James opened it for them and let Lily enter while he followed, closing it behind him. Most of the prefects were there already. Most gave them smiles and waves, while some, mainly Snape, gave them a scowl, which they gladly returned. 

About five minutes later, the head boy and girl walked in. Not surprisingly, Frank Longbottom had been made head boy, and Shelia Abrahamson, a studious brown haired Ravenclaw, had been appointed head girl.

Smiling brightly at everyone, the two new heads started the meeting. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Back with Sirius, Remus, and Peter, things were boring and lazy. With James' absence, Sirius had taken his spot and playing chess with Remus. Peter was twiddling his thumbs, finally deciding to speak, "I'm going to find the trolley lady and get us some snacks."

"Get me some chocolate frogs," Sirius said, handing Peter some knuts.

 "I'll take a large bag of Every Flavor Jelly Beans," Remus said, also handing Peter some knuts 

"Alright, I'll be back soon," Peter said, walking out the compartment. 

Just at that moment, the lights in the compartment flickered. Sirius and Remus stopped what they were going and looked up curiously at them.

"Must be the storm," Remus reasoned, glancing out the window, which showed the start of a soon to be large rainstorm. 

Sirius nodded, "Right," he said, moving his bishop. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Back in the prefect's compartment, things were just about wrapping up. Frank was going over their duties for a second time, making sure they understood.

"Alright, everyone thank you for being so patient. This meeting is adjourned." Shelia said, smiling brightly at them, standing up along with the others.

Suddenly, they were all very aware of the lack of speed from the train. Everyone glanced out the window, and sure enough, they were slowing down.

"I wonder why we're stopping." Lily said thoughtfully.

James along with the rest, shrugged. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I wonder why we're stopping," Remus said thoughtfully, standing up to look out the window.

"Alright, guys, I got the snacks," Peter said, walking back into the room with an armload of sweets. His face took on a confused look and he asked, "Why are we stopping?"

"That's what we were just wondering ourselves," Sirius answered, standing up as well and walking towards the window next to Remus, his brows furrowed, "We're not in Hogsmeade yet, are we?" he asked, squinting to get a good look through the downpour. All he could see what wide open field, not a thing but grass and rain and lightning in sight.

"No way, it's too early. We've only been traveling for about four hours." Remus said, checking his muggle watch. 

"This day is going from weird to just plain peculiar in a matter of minutes," Sirius said, still squinting out into the open fields. A big burst of thunder boomed. Peter squeaked in fright.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**_BOOM!_ **

Lily jumped and James' arms wrapped around her. A murmur started among everyone in the compartment, all of which were just staring wondering out the window into the wide open fields. 

"This is very odd," Frank said, pensively. 

The lights started to flick horribly. The murmurs rose a bit. Suddenly the lights went all the way out. 

"What happened to the lights?" Susan Abigail, a fifth year Hufflepuff, asked. 

"It's probably just the storm," Shelia said, trying her best to sound sincere, but inwardly, they all knew differently. The train would _not_ stop because of a storm, it didn't even have a conductor, and the lights, well, let's just say that everything, even the train, was running on magic. It was not likely that the magic would just…run out. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

"_What is going on?!" Sirius exclaimed as the lights started to flicker and eventually went all the way out._

Remus looked absolutely at a loss for words, "I have _no_ idea." He finally said.

Peter suddenly let out his, by far, loudest squeak. The sound was loud enough to surprise the other two as they turned to look at him, finding his shaking finger pointing out the window, eyes widened greatly.

Remus and Sirius snapped their heads back around to the window. Soon, their eyes widened as big was Peter's.

"Ooooooh…shit." Sirius said softly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"…Well we can't just _stay here and wait for some muggle to find us!" Shelia argued with Frank._

"I'm sure the train will start up again in a matter of minutes." Frank reasoned. "It's probably just a little mistake Dumbledore made when he charmed it."

"Frank!" Shelia said, rolling her eyes, "When has Dumbledore _ever_ messed up a charm!?"

"Oh no." Lily, the only one still looking out the window, said, horrified, causing all arguing in the room to stop. 

"What?" Frank asked, walking back with the others to her side.

"Deatheaters." Lily murmured, her glance not at all wavering. 

A collective gasped emitted from the room. Frank, Shelia, and James pushed their way to Lily's side, looking out the window. Sure enough, about fifty Deatheaters were marching through the wet fields to the train; the lightning and thunder making it seem all the more terrifying. 

"What do we do?!" someone shouted hysterically. 

"We've got to get Dumbledore down here. And _quick!" Frank exclaimed._

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N- how was that? I hope you enjoyed it! Here's the next preview.

*"I'll go."

*"No way am I letting you."

*"You left your wand back in our compartment."

*"Anybody else volunteering?"

*"They're getting closer!"

*"W-what do we do?" "What we seem to do best, Wormtail. Fight."

*"I've got your back."

*"Everyone, stay here."

*"Everyone, please remain calm."

*The wind whipped her hair into her face.

*"Lily, hurry up, they're getting closer…and I think they see you."

*"I found her!"

*"Not so fast."

*"James, get inside!"

*"You'd fight a sixteen year old, wandless, girl?"

I think I'll leave it at that. Thank you to everyone who reviewed!!! 


	35. A Trainride to Remember

Previously: 

A collective gasped emitted from the room. Frank, Shelia, and James pushed their way to Lily's side, looking out the window. Sure enough, about fifty Deatheaters were marching through the wet fields to the train; the lightning and thunder making it seem all the more terrifying. 

"What do we do?!" someone shouted hysterically. 

"We've got to get Dumbledore down here. And _quick_!" Frank exclaimed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Where's the supervisors. There's supposed to be like _four_ teachers on the train, aren't there?!" someone shouted frantically.

"They're all up at Hogwarts for a meeting or something. Dumbledore thought that we two were mature enough to handle the train by ourselves." Shelia said, trembling violently from fear.

"Oh, how bloody _convenient!" the Slytherian girl prefect said sarcastically, wringing her hands nervously._

James gave her a glare and she just glared back at him coldly.

"How are we supposed to contact Dumbledore?" Lily asked, still gazing out the window, watching the Deatheaters inch closer and closer by each flash of lightning. It seemed that only she, James, and a few others managed to stay calm. Others were muttering anxiously to themselves and close to hyperventilating.  

"We have to send a letter by owl." Frank answered.

"But they're all the way outside with our _trunks!" a Hufflepuff prefect stated._

"Then one of us has to go out and get one. _Quickly!_" Shelia said.

"I'll go," Frank said solemnly. 

At that moment, the door to the compartment tried to jerk open. The door had been locked so knocking started from the other side. Frank hurried over and looked out the window of the door. Hastily, he unlocked it and pulled it open. Standing outside the compartment door was tons of students, all looking pale and frightened.  Frank looked outside the door and saw that there were so many students trying to get close that the entire hallway was jam packed. Immediately after he opened the door, many questions started. So many, in fact, that all you could hear was one loud buzz.

Shelia accompanied Frank by the door, trying to calm the crowd down.

From inside the compartment, still by the window, Lily looked over at James, "Frank obviously can't go."

"Frank couldn't even if he was able to. How in the world are any of us expected to get out of the compartment with all the kids blocking the exit?" James mumbled thoughtfully.

Lily bit her lip contemplatively. Then, a dawning look fell on her face. "The window." She turned to James, "Does this window open?"

James tried it. It slid down, opening, but it didn't have much room to go through. Wind started to gust inside, blowing everyone's hair around in their faces. They looked at each other before James said, "I'm going." 

Lily looked astonished, "Well I'm coming with you." She said without hesitation.

James face hardened, "No way am I letting you."

Lily looked scandalized, "Well, I don't see how you could possibly stop me."

"Lily, I can do this alone." He argued.

"Look, James, the more we fight about this, the more time we're giving the Deatheaters," Lily argued right back. James looked out the window and saw that Lily was right. The Deatheaters were closer yet. 

He turned back to look at her, a pained expression on his face, "I'm not going to win, am I?"

Lily's face was set defiantly, "Not this time."

James sighed dejectedly and said, "Alright fine, but I'm going first."

Without another word, James lifted himself up to the window and put his head out. He went a little farther out, but then stopped. His shoulders were too big to fit through the window.

He went back in, his entire head soaked from the rain. He looked at Lily, his face forbidding her to go out there alone.

Lily just stared back at him rebelliously, "I'm still going." She stated stubbornly. 

"Y-you left your wand back in our compartment," James said, desperately trying to talk her out of it.

"Then I'll go _without it," Lily said, starting to climb up to the window opening._

James pulled her back down and she gave him an exasperated look. "Lily, someone else can go. Not you." James said, looking her in the eye.

Lily raised an eyebrow and called out to everyone else in the room who wasn't trying to calm down the other students. "Anybody else volunteering?"

No one moved or said anything, all seeming to be petrified with fright. Lily heard James curse to himself.

"Bloody wankers."

Pretending she hadn't heard that, she walked over to the window again and attempted to pull herself up. An effort that failed. She sighed and looked at James, whose face was set with worry. "James, please, help me."

 "They're getting closer!" the Ravenclaw prefect shrieked hysterically when she looked out the window.

Lily stared wordlessly at James, willing him to give in.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Back in the Marauder's compartment, Peter was hyperventilating. 

"This whole thing reeks of Malfoy." Remus muttered angrily over at the window, where he and Sirius were still gazing out of. 

"Come on." Sirius said, walking to the compartment door.

"Where are we going?" Peter asked, standing up shakily from his seat.

"Head's compartment; see what we can do to help." Sirius explained without turning around. He opened the door and cursed.

"What is it?" Remus said, finally turning around from the window. He raised his eyebrows, "Oh."

"Well that's bloody peachy. How _smart of everyone," Sirius said sarcastically, closing the compartment, "Let's all just stand in the hall and do bloody _nothing_ while we wait for the Deatheaters to come and kill us!" he went on, muttering to himself. _

"It's not that bad." Remus said, trying to stay calm.

"Not that bad???" Sirius exclaimed. He pointed to the door, "Practically every bloody student on the train is standing in the hall, frightened out of their minds!" He sighed angrily and stalked over to the window again to see the Deatheaters roaming closer. 

"W-what do we do?" Peter asked desperately. Remus looked at Sirius, wanting to hear his answer as well.

Sirius didn't say anything for about a minute. Finally, without turning, he responded with a sigh, "What we seem to do best, Wormtail." He turned and looked at him, a rebellious look in his eye. Grinning now, he said simply as he reached in his pocket and pulled out his wand, "Fight." 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sighing dreadfully, James nodded.

Reluctantly, he lifted her by the waist and she eased through the window, landing on the ground outside. The wind was even stronger out there and the rain pelted her face, body, and hair like little rock pebbles. A large burst of thunder erupted and not even three seconds later, a strike of lightning lit the sky.

She looked up to see James' head out the window, his wand raised to it as well. She gave him the thumbs up sign. Nodding, he shouted, "I've got your back!" She could barely hear it with the wind whistling and screaming like prisoners being tortured.

 Brushing her now dripping wet hair out of her eyes, or at least trying to, she took a step towards the part of the train that held everyone's trunks, but before she could take another, she slipped on some mud and fell to her butt. Not wasting any time to pout about how dirty she was getting, she picked herself up and hurried a little more cautiously over to the destination.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Back in the head's compartment, all hell was breaking loose. Frank and Shelia had not let anyone into the compartment and were trying to maintain order from the hallway. The prefects were pacing the compartment, most had looks of concentration upon their faces.

"Let's just start cursing them." Susan suggested.

"They're not close enough yet." Curtis Shepard, Ravenclaw prefect, said.

"Everyone, please stay here!" Frank exclaimed as he saw some students running toward the exit hysterically. He cursed the door so it wouldn't open. 

Quite a bit of first and second years had tears streaming down their faces. Questions were still being thrown around and not being answered. 

"Everyone, please remain calm." Shelia urged, "We're handling this situation at this very moment. Everything is going to be alright. You have my word."

But, despite the reassurance, no one calmed, everyone continued to panic relentlessly. Frank ran his hand through his hair in frustration and Shelia looked to be on the verge of tear from aggravation and stress.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lily was aimlessly looking around for the part of the train that held the luggage. It was practically impossible to decipher one thing from another out there now, as the storm grew worse. Persistently, the wind whipped her hair into her face and she kept pushing it back, agitatedly. Running her hands along the smooth, cold exterior of the train, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. The latch to the hidden compartment had to be around there somewhere. 

She tried this for a few more minutes before she heard James shouting from his place at the window's opening, "Lily, hurry up, they're getting closer…" he trailed off, his eyes growing as wide as saucers, "and I think they see you!" 

Lily whipped around after hearing that statement. Her eyes widened as well. Some of the previously marching Deatheaters were now running. 

Turning back to the train, she wordlessly continued searching. Finally, a few seconds later, her face brightened when she felt a latch. Without any hesitation whatsoever, she threw the little door open and took a look inside. There was a great deal of trunks and birdcages there. Her hands landed on a cage containing a white, snowy owl. Grinning slightly, she pulled the owl out of the cage and into the stormy weather.

She ran back under the window James was at, "I found her! It's Lily!" she exclaimed loud enough for him to hear her. James gave her a thumb up. She whispered to the owl, "Fly to James, Lily." The owl fluttered, seeming to be angry for being pulled out into this weather, but hooted anyway to assure her. Lily let the owl go and it obediently flew into James' outstretched hands. 

Lily jumped and clapped happily. James grinned down at her and shouted, "Go over to the doorway over there and get inside!" Lily nodded to show she heard and turned to walk over to the doorway.

But, as she started to walk, she heard the cruelest voice in the world speak from behind her, "Not so fast…Miss Lily Evans."

She turned slowly back around, her eyes closed dreadfully then opened again, raising her gaze to meet the sight of her archenemy, Lord Voldemort.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Ugh! Where did you have it last, Remus?" Sirius muttered, looking around for Remus' missing wand.

"Sirius, if I knew that, I'd _know where it was!" Remus snarled frustratingly. _

"Aren't you usually the _responsible one in the group?" Sirius asked sarcastically._

"No," Remus grunted, "That would be Li- ha! I found it!" He held up his wand smugly. Sirius opened his mouth to reply, when Remus' face crumpled, "Oh, wait, it's Lily's wand." He turned back around and continued his search, muttering to himself. Sirius rolled his eyes wordlessly and continued searching as well. 

At that moment, Peter let out his trademark 'squeak!' from his place at the window he was looking out of.

Remus and Sirius turned their heads around curiously. "What is it, Wormtail?" Sirius asked.

"Lily," Peter yelped.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Lily, hurry up, they're getting closer…" James' heart stopped. The Deatheaters had stopped walking and were now running and pointing at Lily, "And I think they see you!" 

Underneath him, Lily squinted to keep the rain out of her eyes, apparently straining to hear what he was saying. When she understood, she turned swiftly around, jumping a little in fright. She turned back around and wordlessly continued to search at a faster pace.

James' heart beat faster and painful in his chest as he watched the scene unfold. '_Come on Lily_' he silently willed. A few seconds later, she found the latch and reached inside, pulling out a snowy white bird with her. Grinning proudly, she rushed back over to under him and exclaimed, "I found her! It's Lily!" James sighed in relief and gave her a thumbs up sign. She muttered something to the owl and let it go, the bird flying straight towards James. He took it in his hands and grinned, looking back down at Lily and said seriously, "Go over to the doorway over there and get inside!" She nodded as James brought his head back in, shoving the owl into one of the prefect's hands. He took off his glasses and wiped them off with his sleeve.

He took the owl back from the prefect and called out to the group inside the compartment, "Anyone have a parchment and a quill?"

"I do," Curtis said, handing him the supplies. 

James took them and sat down, attempting to write the first line. 'Attempting' is the key word. It was very hard to write on your knee with a quill and ink. He muttered curse words to himself as he continued on with his trying. 

"U-uh, James," Susan said, looking out the window she had just closed. 

"What?!" James snapped edgily, not looking up from the parchment, which had numerous spots and blots on it.

"Voldemort's out there…and he's saying something to Lily." She said, not taking her eyes off the scene she was looking at. James' head snapped up and he stood, not caring about the parchment, quill, and ink bottle that had fallen to the floor. Sensing that James wouldn't be finishing the letter, Curtis picked up the fallen items and continued on with it. 

"Oh Merlin," James said shakily as he looked out the window as well. There she was, Lily, face to face with Voldemort, a deer caught in headlights look upon her face. '_She doesn't have her wand!' James' insides screamed. Without another word, James opened the window back up and picked himself up, trying to fit through the window, but he wouldn't budge passed his shoulders. Falling back inside, he looked around for his wand, many of the prefects and the students in the hall looking at him curiously. _

When James found his wand, he turned back to the wall that held the window. He muttered a charm to himself and at that second, a large chunk of the train wall separated from the rest. He waved his wand and the large piece of metal flew about ten feet back and fell on the soft, wet ground. He stuck his wand into his pocket and jumped out, ignoring the exclamations of students from his actions. Landing gracefully on his feet, he ran clumsily, due to the ever growing wind, over to where Voldemort and Lily were. 

"Stop right there Voldemort!!!" he shouted as loud as he could over the noise of the wind and now incoming Deatheaters. 

Voldemort and his girlfriend both turned to the source of the noise. Lily had a look of half relief, half fear on her face, "James, get inside!" she screamed, her eyes filled with tears of worry and horror.

James had his wand out and was pointing it at Voldemort, "Stupefy!" he shouted, ignoring Lily. A jet of blue light emitted from his wand straight towards Voldemort. 

Expecting Voldemort to fly through the air with the force of the spell, James, and Lily, were both surprised to witness him only raising a hand and wave it. With a feeling of complete and utter dread in the pits of their stomachs, Lily and James could only watch as the blue light of the spell stopped entirely at the base of the clammy, white hand and fall lifelessly to the cold, wet earth at his feet. The Deatheaters that had just arrived before them all, finishing their journey through the fields, all stood loyally behind him, and had their wands raised and ready. 

Voldemort's face twisted into a callous smirk from seeing his supposedly threatening enemies stand before him in utter shock, their gaze planted to the spot of mud that James' spell had disappeared on. James' mouth, previously moving around dumbly and unable to form a sound, finally achieved its goal and croaked out a simple, "How?"

Voldemort suddenly let out a horrible cackle that sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard. "How do you think, you ignorant little boy? Wandless magic!"

"Oh good Lord," Lily breathed out, her eyes wide.

"So naïve." Voldemort went on mockingly.

James could only see red, hatred flowing in every fiber of his being. Letting out a shout of rage, he roared, "_Impedimenta__!" half expecting the hated wizard to fly backwards from the spell. Of course, Voldemort simply waved his hand again and the spell fell to the ground just like the other._

Lily's face was contorted with fury, "You're a coward, Voldemort!" she screamed, "Ambushing a train full of students with your fully trained Deatheaters. Expecting a duel with your wandless magical ability! You're despicable! You're disgusting! **_You're revolting!!!_**"

Voldemort's red eyes darkened after each passing word coming from her mouth. He was almost shaking with rage as he yelled out, raising his hand, "_CRUCIO!!!" _

James pulled Lily down with him to the ground, only just dodging the curse. Voldemort shouted the offending hex again and this time, it hit James squarely in the chest.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"What about Lily?" Remus demanded, him and Sirius both rushing to Peter's side and looking out the window. They just saw James and Lily hurl to the ground, narrowly escaping a curse sent their way by Voldemort. A second later, they saw James start to writhe on the ground, his face contorted in pain and anguish. Lily sat up, looking at him, screaming something at him. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"JAMES!" Lily screamed, her heart beating painfully in her chest and tears cascading down her already wet face.

James could only scream out in agony. Lily turned her head to glare at Voldemort, who was laughing viciously.

"Take the curse off! _Please!" she begged, pulling James' tortured form into her arms, trying to take away all the pain he was going through. _

"Oh, my," Voldemort tisked, "This is precious. Almost downright nauseating really." 

The curse ended and James gasped with an excruciating amount of pain. Lily gripped him tighter to her chest. She looked down at him, her vision blurry from her ceaseless tears, "James," she breathed out, fighting back a sob.

"Lily," he tried to say, but it came out as a grunt as he swallowed harshly. She bent down and kissed his forehead. That moment, he lost consciousness. Lily gulped inaudibly and lay him gently down. She stood and tore her eyes away from his sleeping form and glared up at Voldemort. All was quiet except for the weather conditions and a faint hoot of an owl from far away. Lily paid either of them no heed.

"Tell me, Voldemort. You'd fight a sixteen year old, wandless, girl with an army of Deatheaters? Are you really that insecure?" she shouted, as a huge gust of wind practically knocked them all over.

Voldemort glared and without a word, snapped his fingers. All the Deatheaters surrounding them disapparated in an instant. "Now it's just you and me, Mudblood. Let's see how well you do without a wand."

He raised his hand swiftly and shouted a curse Lily had yet to learn. Her eyes widening, she dodged the spell just in time and turned around to run.

She heard Voldemort swear from behind. Turning cautiously, she saw him chasing after her, looking positively livid.   

She finally reached the front of the train and ran around it, well aware that Voldemort was only a few short meters away. While she rounded the corner, she suddenly let out a gasp of pain. Her right arm had been hit with a burning curse. Not at all missing a beat, she dropped to the ground and rolled under a part of the train where she could fit through and moseyed to the other side of the train just as Voldemort rounded the side she was just at.

She heard him shout out in frustration when he saw no one on the side. Continuing to run, she heard him again. "It is inevitable, mudblood. Accept the fact that _you_…_will…_die_!" she turned her head to see him farther behind her, but gaining speed. She hoped with every fiber in her body that no one would be foolish enough to come out and try to help. This monster would kill them in an instant._

Continuous jets of light flew passed her from his hexes. Her arm was becoming numb and useless. Her eyes darted around for any possible plan of action. She passed by a lump of black that she recognized to be James' cloak, which contained the hopefully peaceful James. 

Gasping and panting for breath, she turned her head to look at the train beside her. Without missing a beat, she jumped with all her might onto the side of the train. She managed to grab hold of some metal with her one good arm before she fell right off. She squinted, trying to keep the pelting rain out of her face. She grunted and tried with all her power to pull herself up onto the top of the stationary train. 

She let herself look through the window she was facing and saw three younger students she didn't know look at her with alarm. She could read one of the boy's lips, her heart sinking, "A Deatheater!" All three of the occupants flew out of the compartment in a flash of lightning, literally. 

She pulled more; she was closer yet to the top. A few more feet…

She screamed as a green light flew by her. She knew what curse it was, too.

Collecting all her strengths, she let out a shout of pain as she achieved her goal and climbed on the top of the train. _'Thank goodness it's not moving.' She thought to herself._

She got to her feet and almost fell flat on her face again. The black surface she stood on was slippery and icy. With a little more care, she inched forward, not at all knowing what she was planning on doing now that she was up here. 

"At least I'm away from Voldemort." She breathed to herself. As if the fates were against her that day, the second she said that, Voldemort appeared right in front of her, looking very amused at this little cat and mouse game.

She stumbled back, slipping and falling. Voldemort just laughed. "Crucio!" he cried.

Lily was hit directly in the chest just as James had been. And, like James, she screamed in agony, feeling a tremendous amount of pain. She faintly heard Voldemort crackle again, but she didn't care. She just rolled around, trying to escape the pain. The pain. There was nothing but the pain now. Nothing in the world was there anymore except the pain. 

She continued to scream and roll around, unaware that she was dangerously close to the edge. Voldemort sent another burst of the curse to her, strengthening the pain. With one more heart stopping scream, complete with a blinding flash of lightning, Lily rolled off the edge, falling with a thump to the ground below. 

Voldemort smirked and disapparated to her side. She was panting, her eyes shut tightly from the pain. Fresh tears were streaming down her face. He chuckled cruelly at her, causing her brilliant green eyes to appear and stare at him.

He had his wand out now and was pointing it at her. _'So this is it. The end of my short life.'_ Lily's insides were screaming disbelievingly. This wasn't how it was supposed to be! She was supposed to grow up. Graduate. Marry James. Have a family together. This wasn't fair! 

"I've wanted to do this for years." Voldemort snarled, tearing her away from her thoughts. "I'm finally going to remove the thorn from my side once and for all."

"LILY!" someone suddenly shouted. Voldemort's head shot up while Lily desperately tried to move her body to see who was saving her.

Sirius had his head stuck out of a window. Remus and Peter were seen from another one, their wands out appearing to be levitating her boyfriend up to them to keep him out of danger. Sirius had what appeared to be two wands in his hand. Her heart seemed to stop as she witnessed in seemingly slow motion. Sirius said something that was drowned out by the sound of another burst of thunder followed by lightning. She could see his lips form the word, "Catch." Right before he threw out one of the wands he was holding. She held her left arm straight up in the air, begging to God that she caught it. 

The next thing she knew, her hand was gripped around a stick. She looked up and smiled a little when she saw her very own wand in her grasp. Voldemort was standing there, snarling.

"Avada Kedavra!!!!!!!" he bellowed out furiously. The green light shot from his wand straight for Lily's heart. Lily closed her eyes tightly and turned away from the frightening sight. She began to pray. 

Then…

Nothing. '_Am I dead? The rain stopped. So did the storm it sounds like.'_

She cautiously opened one eye and immediately gasped. She was inside some sort of glowing white, transparent bubble. She inched close to it and hesitantly held out her left hand, surprised when her hand went straight through it and felt the rain still pouring. She, with a little more confidence, stuck her head through the bubblish thing and looked around, seeing that the storm had not at all ended. 

She also saw something incredible. She was swaying faintly and her eyes were growing heavy, but she was one hundred percent positive that what she was seeing was true. 

Headmaster Dumbledore stood boldly in front of Voldemort, wand at ready, and looking more furious than she had ever seen him before.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N- it was a little poorly written, but I'm just glad I got it out and updated. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'm very sorry for not updating sooner. Thanks for the reviews, keep 'em coming!


	36. Voldemort's Only Fear

Previously: 

She also saw something incredible. She was swaying faintly and her eyes were growing heavy, but she was one hundred percent positive that what she was seeing was true. 

Headmaster Dumbledore stood boldly in front of Voldemort, wand at ready, and looking more furious than she had ever seen him before. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

She let out the breath that she had been holding, feeling as though a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders. Although the said relief was soon replaced by exhaustion and confusion. She didn't know what she was supposed to do. Should she get out and run back to the train? How long could she stay inside this bubble thing before it popped? Would it kill her when it popped? She was just so tired she couldn't think straight anymore.

 Feeling as though she was outside her body and watching the scene unfold right below, she saw herself call out questioningly, "Dumbledore?"

"Stay where you are, Lily!" he shouted over the storm, not at all turning his back on the Dark wizard in front of him.

Lily crawled back into the glowing bubble obediently. She couldn't see anything at all inside there, just whiteness. She felt her heart beating rapidly inside her chest, the previous torture spell on her really taking effect. Fatigue weighed heavily on her shoulders. Her head started to spin and, at that second, she collapsed, much like her boyfriend had moments ago. She had failed to realize during this time, that her necklace was glowing brilliantly pink.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

From outside the bubble, Dumbledore and Voldemort stood face to face, both looking ever so furious. 

"You cannot protect your students forever, old fool!" Voldemort shouted out, a hint of nervousness in his voice, for he knew very well that if at that moment he and the elderly wizard in front of him engaged in a duel, he would most definitely loose. 

"Perhaps not," Dumbledore responded calmly yet forcefully, "but while they are under my order, I will do anything in my power to keep them safe. You will be in Azkaban by the time I am done with you, Tom!" he shouted. As if to prove his point, aurors started to appear with popping sounds all around. Voldemort took an involuntary step back and turned his head wildly around, surprised.

Voldemort hissed angrily. "Mark my words, Dumbledore. This isn't over. One day…_one day_, I _will_ destroy you!" With that, he disappeared right before one auror's stunning spell hit him.

Dumbledore stared at the spot Voldemort just disappeared from, letting out a sad sigh. Screeching, crying sounds coming from the train next to him proved that more than half of the students were scared out of their very minds. Aurors poured into the train, checking all the compartments for any Deatheaters. Unfortunately, they found that none, not one, had went against Voldemort's orders and stayed. 

A sudden though jolted Dumbledore out of his trance. He turned quickly around to face the mysterious bubble that contained Lily. When Dumbledore had first received the owl right in the middle of his meeting with the professors, he had been shocked. After actually reading the letter; he really couldn't believe that he had been so foolish as to let the Head boy and girl take care of an entire train full of students. Right as soon as he finished reading the plea-filled letter begging for some help, he immediately took action and floo'd down to Hogsmeade and as quickly as he came, apparated to the location the letter had given him. 

He appeared there right in time to see a silvery, glowing bubble materialize right around the fallen Lily Evans and a very much recognizable green jet of light bounce right off of it. He wasted no time to gawk at the extraordinary sight of the mystifying bubble that had actually blocked an Avada Kedavra curse. He instead turned his attention to the owner of the said curse. Voldemort himself looked just as surprised as Dumbledore had been to see his curse fail. 

So, after all that was said and done, the only unanswered question was in fact the baffling glowing phenomenon. Dumbledore moved forward towards the bubble and called to it, "Miss Evans?"

He received no answer. A sudden burst of thunder and a flash of lightning happened in the dark, dreary sky above them. "Miss Evans?" he tried again.

But again, there was no reply. 

Dumbledore walked forward, more and more nearing her. Hesitantly, he reached out his hand and touched the bubble, shocked when his hand went straight through it. Not wanting to waste anymore time, he quickly moved his head inside and saw that Lily had passed out sometime during his short conversation with Voldemort. He was also a little befuddled to see her lily necklace going from a pink glow, back to its normal color. Brushing all else aside, he was quick to pick her up and pull her out of the bubble. The bubble disappeared as soon as Lily was completely out of it.

He took a second to heal her the best he could at the moment. It turns out that he was no Madame Pomfrey, but at least he managed to wrap her burnt arm into bandages and take care of a nasty gash on her forehead. He finally surveyed the scene around him with curiosity.

A few people were outside now, not at all caring about the downpour of rain landing on them. Aurors were attempting to calm some of the children. Many students had turned their lost, but relieved eyes to him.

And then, Dumbledore smiled slightly as something caught his eye. Misters Black and Pettigrew were running towards him and Miss Evans, and Mister Lupin supporting the wobbling Mister Potter following closely behind.

~*~*~*~*~A Few Minutes Earlier~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"She caught it!" Sirius exclaimed gleefully, a little shaky from all that was going on.

"Peter, support his head!" Remus exclaimed as they both pulled the unconscious James through the enlarged window. 

Peter was panting, desperately seizing James' arms. He and Remus managed to place his form on the seats to the side of them. Sirius' face then went white as Remus and Peter joined him at the window, their faces loosing color as well. 

"Oh Merlin," Remus breathed, feeling like he were in a terrible nightmare.

"Lily," Sirius whispered.

Though neither of them realized it, Remus and Sirius' necklaces that Lily had given them were glowing yellow and blue, respectfully. 

Both their eyes also did something a little…unusual. In their irises, what appeared to be little flashes of lightning sparked. And, when they ironically both blinked at the exact same time, Peter's eyebrows skyrocketed seeing Voldemort's killing curse bounce off of something magnificent. A bubble, more like a shield of some sort, had appeared right around Lily. Sirius and Remus both stared with awe and bewilderment at the scene outside, their necklaces fading.

"What just happened?" Remus asked quietly.

"I-I don't know," Peter answered, trembling violently, "where did that bubble thing come from?"

Sirius' eyes were as wide as saucers, "Did that thing just block an unforgivable curse?"

A groan from behind them pulled them all from their trances. Sirius was first to whip around and rush to James' side.

"Prongs, mate, you alright?" he asked, shaking his shoulder a bit. James' face scrunched up in pain. 

"_Lily_." He whispered.

"I think she's alright, James." Remus answered. James' eyes slowly opened and blinked into focus. 

"Sirius, Remus, Peter?" he asked confusedly. "What am I doing here?"

"Whoa." Peter squeaked at that moment. Sirius turned around and saw Peter standing back at the window again, his eyes twinkling in curiosity.

"What is it, Wormtail?" Sirius asked, walking forward. Remus helped James up from his laying position on the seat and supported him over to the window.

Sirius breathed a sigh of relief, "About time."

"Who sent him the letter? Last time I checked, I never finished it." James asked no one in particular.

"What letter?" Peter asked.

"Never mind." James replied nonchalantly as he watched with bated breath as Dumbledore and Voldemort exchanged a few angry words with one another. Aurors suddenly started to pop up all around.

"Maybe they'll duel," Sirius said with wide, anxious eyes.

"Probably not." Remus answered, "Even _Voldemort_ isn't foolish enough to duel with Dumbledore."

As to confirm his answer, Voldemort disappeared with the swish of his cloak.

"We'd better try our luck and attempt to get off this train." Remus said.

"Where's Lily?" James spoke, his voice bordering on the verge of panic as his eyes searched the outside. His gaze fell briefly on a glowing bubble.

"Inside that bubble thingie." Sirius replied swiftly right before he opened the compartment door. Luckily, the halls were clearing out as aurors took the children off the train and some were questioned about what had happened. Sirius bolted down the hall, Peter following, while Remus and James hobbled down as quickly as they could.

"Lily's alright, isn't she?" James asked worriedly to Remus as he helped him hop off the train.

"We think so. The most bizarre thing happened, though-," Remus started, but was cut off as they reached Dumbledore's side. James' breath caught in his throat as he let go of Remus and dropped to his knees to Lily.

"Is she alright?" Sirius asked Dumbledore.

"She'll be just fine, Mr. Black," Dumbledore answered with a small smile.

"What on earth was that bubble thing?" Remus asked. But Dumbledore didn't answer.

"Whatever it was just defied Wizard logic." Sirius muttered.

"Wait, I'm confused-," James started, but was interrupted by the Head boy and girl rushing over to Dumbledore.

"Professor-,"

"Headmaster-,"

They both started to speak at the same time in high pitched, rushed tones. 

"What on earth happened-,"

"-we saw Lily in that-,"

"-Voldemort and death eaters-,"

"terrible. Absolute chaos-,"

"How did you-,"

"-Curtis sent an owl-,"

Dumbledore finally raised a hand to stop their flow of words.

"I think it's time to start this train up again. Don't want to miss the feast, do we. And I believe that we have some frightened first years to sort out." The old man stated wisely.

Frank and Shelia nodded quickly and tensely, rushing around and trying to get children back on the train.

Dumbledore then turned around and looked around for something, leaving the Marauders to stare at him curiously. After a few moments of him searching, Dumbledore sighed and bent down. Sirius and James exchanged looks when they say Dumbledore taking off one of his black boots. He took his wand and pointed it at his boot, muttering a few words. Then, he turned back to them and said in a serious voice, "Take this portkey. It will take you near the Infirmary at Hogwarts. When you get there, I want you to tell Madame Pomfrey to check Miss Evans and Mr. Potter over. Tell her I will explain things to her when I arrive."

They nodded to him and Peter took the boot from his hand and the rest all touched it. A few seconds later, they felt a tug on their naval and then they were off.

Dumbledore turned and busily began to move some of the children onto the train.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N- not very long, I know. Sorry. I hope you liked it, it wasn't as thrilling as the other chapters, I'll try to work on that. Well, I guess I'd better get on with the preview things.

*"Dumbledore said that he'll explain everything as soon as he gets here."

*"You boys scurry along off to the feast."

*"And when does the feast start?"

*"I just can't get the picture of that killing curse hurling towards Lily out of my mind."

*"It's all Malfoy." "Oh, I'd have to say that Voldemort played a _tiny_ role in all of this."

*"You can see it in their eyes."

*"If I could, I would resign my position."

*"What on earth was that bubble thing?"

*"That bloody Rita Skeeter."

*"Where's Lily?" "Where else? The library."

*"What's _he_ doing here?!"

*"That was about the biggest load of crap I've ever heard in my entire life."

*"I don't trust him."

*"I don't believe it."

*"They can't take you away!"

*"Some Christmas this will be."

*"Peeves, put _down_ the water balloons!"


	37. There's Something Weird Going on at Hogw...

Previously:

Dumbledore then turned around and looked around for something, leaving the Marauders to stare at him curiously. After a few moments of him searching, Dumbledore sighed and bent down. Sirius and James exchanged looks when they say Dumbledore taking off one of his black boots. He took his wand and pointed it at his boot, muttering a few words. Then, he turned back to them and said in a serious voice, "Take this portkey. It will take you near the Infirmary at Hogwarts. When you get there, I want you to tell Madame Pomfrey to check Miss Evans and Mr. Potter over. Tell her I will explain things to her when I arrive."

They nodded to him and Peter took the boot from his hand and the rest all touched it. A few seconds later, they felt a tug on their naval and then they were off.

Dumbledore turned and busily began to move some of the children onto the train.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A few seconds later, the Marauders found themselves sprawled across the floor right outside the Infirmary at Hogwarts. Sirius bent down at picked Lily up off the ground, she stirred a little, but did not open her eyes.

Remus opened the doors and helped James along, Sirius following close behind, while Peter brought in the rear, shutting the doors behind him.

"MADAME POMFREY!" bellowed Sirius.

The nurse walked out of the other door across the large room looking quite flustered. 

"How…what are you five doing here…and…what happened here?" questioned Madame Pomfrey seeming to be overwhelmed at just seeing the four worst troublemakers in her Infirmary at this time, no less carrying the once again unconscious Lily.

"Dumbledore said that he'll explain everything as soon as he gets here." said Remus, helping the exhausted James over to a bed. 

"Over here, Mr. Black." motioned Madame Pomfrey. Sirius set Lily down on the bed next to James.

"S-she's been hit with the Cruciatus Curse. James as well." said Peter, flustered.

Madame Pomfrey looked up at them, shocked for a moment, then got back to work on Lily. She rushed over to her potion's cabinet and pulled out some bottles.

Disconcerted, she looked over at the other three Marauders. "You boys scurry along off to the feast now. Go on. Come back tomorrow."

"And when does the feast start?" asked Sirius, almost smiling.

"It's probably already started, silly boy." snapped Madame Pomfrey, not in a great mood.

"No one is even here yet, Madame Pomfrey. We took a portkey here. The train probably has about a few more hours to go." explained Remus.

"Oh, bugger," Madame Pomfrey muttered almost inaudibly. Sirius and Remus exchanged looks, apparently hearing it perfectly. "Well, then, just-just go to your common rooms."

"Please Madame Pomfrey…can't they just stay here. We're all really worried about Lily." pleaded James, lifting himself on his elbows.

"Lie back Mr. Potter." ordered Madame Pomfrey, busily stirring something blue. She looked thoughtful for a moment, her eyes softening. Then she said, "Alright, you lot can stay. Just stay out of my way. Lupin," she said, "Take this and stir." She shoved the concoction into Remus' arms; he began to rapidly stir.

"Black, go fetch some of that pink stuff out of my cabinet. Pettigrew, grab some blankets over there. If you children are going to be staying in here, you could help somewhat." Although her tone was rough, she couldn't keep the bittersweet affection from her eyes. These students cared so much about each other and they were just realizing the harsh world surrounding them was about to get a lot worse.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

About a half hour later, James was sleeping peacefully, Lily was still unconscious but healing nonetheless, Madame Pomfrey had gone into her study to do some parchment work, Peter was looking at one of the moving paintings in the room, and Sirius was sitting in a chair, staring out the window. The only sounds in the large room were coming from the window panes which were being beaten furiously with another flurry of pounding rain. Another storm was coming again.

Remus saw the troubled, sad look on Sirius' face and walked over. 

"Alright, Padfoot?" he asked quietly.

Sirius looked over at him, smiling sadly, "I just can't get the picture of that killing curse hurling towards Lily out of my mind." 

Peter walked over to them as well, taking a seat. 

"Can you believe something like this actually happened?" he asked.

"Oh, I think I could imagine." replied Sirius, half-heartedly sarcastic, rubbing his tired eyes. 

"No, I mean, that You-Know-Who actually was bold enough to attack a train full of students." explained Peter, his ears turning pink, a little embarrassed. 

"I think 'bold' isn't the right word. 'Sadistic' would be much better suited." muttered Remus.  

They all sat in silence for a while until words burst from Sirius' angry, trembling lips, "This is his doing! It's all Malfoy."

"Oh, I'd have to say Voldemort played a _tiny_ role in all of this." Now it was Remus' turn to be sarcastic.

"We should have known something was up the minute we saw Malfoy on the platform. Why else would he go to all that trouble to come back here when he could have just gone to Durmstrang or Beauxbatons? Why didn't we stop him?!" Sirius pounded one of his fists into his palm angrily. 

 "I think we were all caught up in our own astonishment to act upon rational feelings. We were angry and very protective of Lily on the platform. We didn't stop to think wisely." said Remus.

Peter looked over at a muggle cloak, straining to remember how to tell muggle time. "I think it's almost time for the feast."

"Yeah, we'd better head on down there or McGonagall will have our heads." said Sirius.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The seemingly infinite storm was still in full swing by the next morning. Rumors had ignited to an all time high. Despite the fact that Dumbledore had done his best to explain the actions on the train without raising fear into the student body, different tales were told all around the castle. Lily caught more than a few faces sneaking peeks into the hospital wing, no doubt to get a glimpse of her and James to see if one specific rumor about Lily and James taking on not only Voldemort, but _fifty_ of his death eaters, seven hippogriffs, three ferocious dragons, and (it really goes to show what people will believe if some stranger tells them what happened) 15 unicorns all by themselves had any truth behind it at all.

Around nine o'clock, Madame Pomfrey was satisfied with her checkup with the two (they were just a bit pale and frightened, but who wouldn't be after what they went through yesterday) of them and allowed them to leave after they finished their breakfasts and she handed them each their timetables. Double NEWT's Transfiguration was their first subject. James and Lily walked a bit wobbly out of the hospital wing, not really hearing Madame Pomfrey as she said, "I've to talk with the Headmaster about something." And she followed them out the door. And they didn't notice as she kept on following them all the way to Gryffindor tower, where she made her way straight down the hall, thus walking right back to the Hospital wing.

Lily and James grabbed their textbooks from their trunks in the Gryffindor tower, both of which had been taken out of the train and into their dormitories most likely from the house elves. Lily had to practically shove James out of the portrait hole, amidst his protesting of, "We've already missed half of it! Why not miss the rest?!"

So, now here they were: James watching with pitiful eyes as Lily opened the door to McGonagall's classroom. As soon as they walked in, close to thirty pairs of eyes were on them. Seventh and sixth year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws that had decided to take McGonagall's Advanced NEWT's class, and the McGonagall herself all looked up from their work; the atmosphere in the room was terrible, if felt like someone had died. Not a single smile or a ghost of a smile was on anyone's face.

"Get back to your essays, please," said McGonagall quietly. Everyone but a few obeyed. 

Lily was quite surprised. Usually if a student walked in halfway through the class, they'd receive detentions. Sneaking a questioning glance at the strict teacher, she and James took some seats. Lily took a seat next to a seventh year Ravenclaw with dark brown hair. She recognized him to be Darren Mitchell, the beater for their Quidditch team. Smiling politely, she reached into her bag and took out some parchment and a quick with ink.

She glanced over towards James and saw Peter was telling him what they were to do. Remus and Sirius were at the table in front of her boyfriend, working furiously she presumption due to the ink splattered carelessly over Remus' nose as he scribbled on his parchment wildly.

Turning back to her table partner, she smiled again at him and he nodded his head in acknowledgment. 

"Hello," she whispered, "I'm Lily Evans."

Darren replied shortly, "Darren Mitchell." He went back to his writing. Lily was a bit taken aback; he seemed to be a little rude. Nonetheless, she really did need to know what she was to be doing.

"I don't suppose you could tell me what our assignment is?"

"We've got to write as much as we can about the Teapot Theory by the end of this lesson." Darren whispered back, not looking up from his parchment.

Lily nodded and muttered, "Thanks."   

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Anyway, we left around eleven after Pomfrey shoved us out of there and tried to sneak in during breakfast, but she indecently enough transfigured some large green lions to stand guard at the front of the door, probably to keep all those nosy buggers out of their," said Sirius as all four of them walked out of McGonagall's classroom an hour later, their hands cramped from all that writing they'd just finished. 

"Well, with the degree of these rumors going around here, I too would want to see if these two here really can split their beams of the Stupefy curse into quarters to hit four people at once," chimed in Remus, grinning a bit amusedly at the ignorance of the students here. He was trying to break the thick environment around them. Students all around them were throwing apprehensive looks their way, seeming almost afraid of them, or afraid of what they had saw last night.

"You've known us for years, Moony, and you're still wondering?" asked James jokingly and feigning cockiness, playing along with Remus. "Of _course_ we can do that…after all, we _are_ direct descendants of Merlin himself!"

All four boys started to laugh, feeling a bit looser and better. Lily smiled a bit, but her attention was lacking from their conversation. She felt the back of her neck tingling. She knew that tingle. Someone was staring at her. She turned her head just a little to the right, wondering what it could be. Turning her head a little more, she saw McGonagall out of the corner of her walking a few paces behind them in the halls. She had been looking right at them, but quickly changed her path of sight when she spotted Lily looking at her.

Lily turned back around to see James smiling at her, chuckling at something Remus had just said. Lily forced a laugh and tried to join in the conversation so the Marauders wouldn't be suspicious. 

And all the way to the Great Hall for lunch, Lily felt that familiar tingle on the back of her neck.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As McGonagall entered the Great Hall, and still eyeing the Marauders and Lily cautiously, she finally tore her eyes away from them and looked up at the teachers table, seeing the Headmaster staring at her through his half-mooned spectacles. She gave a little nod of indication to his unasked question.

 McGonagall took her seat up on the right hand side of Dumbledore; to her left was Professor Flitwick. Words were not needed to know what they were all so caught up about. It was now common knowledge in the wizarding population that Voldemort was raising to power at miraculous speed. Dumbledore looked around the Hall, noticing effortlessly the lack of normal happy conversation between the students. All that was being said in the Hall were whispers and if not that, silence. 

"They're frightened," said Dumbledore, "You can see it in their eyes."

 "As well they should be," snapped McGonagall a little tersely, "Even the bravest of hearts have fears. No child should be subjected to that kind of inane madness at this crucial point in their life."

Dumbledore drew in a long, tired breath and said quietly and effectively, "Voldemort (he ignored McGonagall's flinch) may have failed in his original plan, God know what it may have been, but he _did_ succeed in something greater. He struck fear into the lives of not only all of Hogwarts peers, but their parents as well. I will be most concerned in seeing just how many parents pull their children out of Hogwarts for good."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N- sorry I hadn't put in the rest of the preview things. Next chapter will finish the rest of them up. For now, I wanted to get this chapter out as quick as possible and I also wanted your input on something.

Sometime in the near future, I'm considering posted another story (so many ideas are flooding my mind) as well as continuing my others as well. I've got three separate story plots, and I've had the strangest desire to put another one of those "movie trailer previews" I did for the sequel of Once Upon a Time.

So, here's the deal, I put up three separate story trailers, and you tell me which one of the three I should write. And please read _all_ of the rules.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**RULES FOR STORY PLOT #1-**

_Italics_**-** narrator is speaking

**Bold**_- _will be used for the song lyrics of "Angels" by Robbie Williams

Regular- setting the scene and the dialogue between the characters

When the word *FLASH* appears, it means the scene changes

Warning for this story: it's an AU because I ignore OotP. And this story contains some religious, Christianity, beliefs.

Read On!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**I sit and wait**

**Does an angel contemplate my fate  
And do they know**

_Never underestimate the power of the light._

*FLASH*

"Do you believe in miracles, Harry?" Hermione asked. She, Ron, and Harry were lying on the grass by a lake on a beautiful sunny day, looking up at the clouds.

Harry didn't speak for a few seconds, but then he said, "Absolutely."

**  
The places where we go  
When we're grey and old**

*FLASH*

"Not another bloody DADA teacher." grumbled Ron.

**  
'Cause I've been told  
That salvation lets their wings unfold**

_It is said that heroes get remembered, but legends never die._****

*FLASH*

"Do you think they're proud of me, Sirius?" asked Harry with tears filling his eyes, looking up at the standing Sirius.

Sirius looked down at the double tombstone that read:

'Here lies Lily and James Potter.

Loyal friend, loving parents, and courageous believers in righteousness.

In their absence may there be hope and faith and remembrance.'

"Oh yeah, Harry…without a doubt." He replied. He closed his eyes painfully and turned away.

**So when I'm lying in my bed  
Thoughts running through my head  
And I feel that love is dead******

_What happens if you are equally hero and legend?_

The doors to the Great Hall flew open and two figures stood there, cloaks over their heads. Harry, though not seeing their faces, felt his stomach give a familiar jolt for some reason unbeknownst to him.

Dumbledore stood up, smiling politely and said, "I'd like to introduce our two new students. Miss Mary Smith and Mr. John Smith."

**I'm loving angels instead**

_Harry Potter is about to enter his most significant year at Hogwarts.___

"You'd better watch it, Potty. There are things going on…things that would make your skin crawl just by hearing it." said Malfoy, surrounded by his usual flock of cronies.

"I'm sure if you can handle it with such ease, _Malfoy, _then I could very well live through it and not so much as quiver in my right pinky finger." retorted Harry, eyes livid with rage.

**And through it all she offers me protection  
A lot of love and affection  
Whether I'm right or wrong******

_Imagine the miraculous possibilities that could happen if you have faith. _

"I never asked for this! Why do I have to be the bloody 'boy-who-lived'?! Why not the 'boy-who-_died_!? At least I would get to be with my parents!" shouted Harry.

**And down the waterfall  
Wherever it may take me  
I know that life won't break me  
When I come to call**

"They loved you, Harry. They still love you. Not even Death can change that." said Mary.

Harry didn't lift his head from his hands. "You'd be surprised how much Death can change." he spoke bitterly.

**she won't forsake me**

"If you have faith and hope…Death has no negative power over you." Amanda persisted. This time, Harry did look up into her eyes, feeling a familiar jolt in his stomach again.

**I'm loving angels instead******

"There's something off about those two…I get a weird feeling from them. Have you ever seen them catch each other's eyes? It's… peculiar." said Hermione, talking about Mary and John.

"You're just saying that because Harry's taken some sort of special interest in Mary." Ron grinned calmly.

_The tension is building to an all time high._

*FLASH*

"Well I _should_ care, shouldn't I?! Harry is my _boyfriend_, and I will _not_ have him stole away from me by some _fifth year girl!_" shouted Hermione, standing up from her seat on the common room couch, eyes positively glowing in rage.

_A war to end all wars in the wizarding world._

**When I'm feeling weak  
And my pain walks down  
A one way street******

"Any students sixth year and older may volunteer for battle. But, might I suggest you think with extreme caution about it?" announced Dumbledore.

The trio looked at each other doubtless, and each said simultaneously, "I'm in."

**I look about  
And I know I'll always be blessed with luck**

"I never meant to hurt you, Hermione. She…she just seemed so… familiar," bumbled Harry.

"So, you have no romantic interest in her…any at all?" asked Hermione hopefully.

Harry smiled at her, "None whatsoever."

**And as the feeling grows  
She breathes flesh to my bones******

"Wands at ready!" shouted Dumbledore.

**And when love is dead******

A blinding flash of pure white light burst suddenly all around the land. Every single person had to shield their eyes. But, just as soon as it came, it was gone. And they were all left staring at the source of the light. 

"It's impossible…is…is that who I think it is?"

"Lily and James."

**I'm loving angels instead******

Harry slowly turned around and looked up, his eyes meeting their twins.

**And through it all  
She offers me protection**

"You're parents were bold and daring, Harry. They were stubborn, brave, and good all the way down to their very core…you're just like them," whispered Remus.

Harry looked up from the picture album he was holding, a lone tear treading its way down his cheek.

**A lot of love and affection  
Whether I'm right or wrong**

"It was _never_ your fault," James fervently whispered, compassion in his eyes. "_Never_."

**And down the waterfall  
Wherever it may take me**

"You think we could win now?" Moody asked Dumbledore, both staring dazedly at the sight above them.

"I think this increases the probability in our favor just a bit," replied Dumbledore, that old twinkle returning to his eyes.

**I know that life won't break me  
When I come to call**

"I've been alone for so many years. Now…I've got my friends back," said Remus to the group around him.

**She won't forsake me**

"We'll meet again someday, Harry. You'll see. Remember…if you have faith and hope, Death has no negative effect over you." she said, kissing Harry on the forehead tenderly.

**I'm loving angels instead**

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**RULES FOR STORY PLOT #2-**

**Bold**_- _will be used for the song lyrics of "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls

Regular- setting the scene and the dialogue between the characters

When the word *FLASH* appears, it means the scene changes

Warning: It an AU!

Read On!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
    
    **And I'd give up forever to touch you**
    
    **Cuz I know that you feel me somehow**
    
    Grey clouds were forming all around Hogwarts. A set of footsteps became louder and louder to the occupants of the Great Hall during lunch.
    
    **You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be**
    
    **And I don't want to go home right now**
    
    Lily Evans sat with Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, wondering where her boyfriend, James Potter was.
    
    In that instant, the doors to the Great Hall opened with such force a large **BOOM!** echoed through the hall. 
    
    **And all I can taste is this moment**
    
    **And all I can breathe is your life**
    
    In the doorway stood a panting man, drenched in rain. He had obviously just been outside. He wheezed for a few more seconds until he could get his voice back.
    
    **Cuz sooner or later it's over**
    
    **I just don't want to miss you tonight**
    
    And when he did, Lily desperately wished he hadn't. 
    
    **And I don't want the world to see me**
    
    **Cuz I don't think that they'd understand**
    
    "A student was murdered tonight in the Forbidden Forest," said the man loudly so it would reach Dumbledore's ears, who was seated at the teacher's table, "A Mr. James Potter was hit with the killing curse."
    
    **When everything's made to be broken**
    
    **I just want you to know who I am**
    
    *FLASH*
    
    A man was sitting next to a window, watching the rain pelt against it. An Invisibility Cloak lay down by his feet.
    
    **And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming**
    
    **Or the moment of truth in your lies**
    
    Suddenly, the door to the room opened up and the man snapped his head around in surprise, trying urgently to put on the cloak. But it was too late. In the doorway stood Sirius, Remus, and Peter, all looking like they could faint at any moment. 
    
    **When everything feels like the movies**
    
    **Yeah, you'd bleed just to know you're alive**
    
    "James," whispered Sirius, not at all noticing the tears that fell from his eyes.
    
    **And I don't want the world to see me**
    
    **Cuz I don't think that they'd understand**
    
    *FLASH*
    
    "Somebody tell me what the bloody hell is going on around here!" shouted Sirius just as they all heard footsteps rapidly approach their room.
    
    Quickly, Remus threw James the Invisibility Cloak and he put in on just as the door opened in ran Lily, ignoring the questions of all three of the visible boys. She flung herself onto James' bed and threw the covers over her. Muffled sobs were heard underneath.
    
    **When everything's made to be broken**
    
    **I just want you to know who I am**
    
    Sirius and Remus exchanged a pitying look and walked over to the bed. 
    
    "Lily," said Remus softly, sitting down on the bed and peeling back the covers.
    
    Mascara-streaked, Lily lifted her face to meet his.
    
    **And I don't want the world to see me**
    
    **Cuz I don't think that they'd understand**
    
    *FLASH*
    
    "You can't live your life like this, Lily. It's killing you," pleaded Sirius.
    
    Lily just lay motionless, not seeming to have heard him at all.
    
    **When everything's made to be broken**
    
    **I just want you to know who I am**
    
    *FLASH*
    
    "Why can't you just tell her!!!?" shouted Sirius.
    
    "I just…can't!!" retorted James, "You guys weren't even supposed to know!!!!"
    
    **And I don't want the world to see me**
    
    **Cuz I don't think that they'd understand**
    
    *FLASH*
    
    "Lily? LILY!?" shouted Remus, rushing over to her bedside.
    
    **When everything's made to be broken**
    
    **I just want you to know who I am**
    
    *FLASH*
    
    James dropped the cloak. Lily's eyes widened and she screamed.
    
    **I just want you to know who I am**
    
    *FLASH*
    
    "Don't touch me! Don't even look at me!" screamed Lily, backing away from him.
    
    James looked at her with said eyes, "Please, Lily."
    
    **I just want you to know who I am**
    
    *FLASH*
    
    "So…Potter _is_ alive," hissed a dark figure with red, glowing eyes.

**I just want you to know who I am**

*FLASH*

"That offers still stands," James smiled, holding out her ring, "If you still want to."

Lily looked back and forth between his eyes and the ring. Finally, she opened her mouth to answer.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**RULES FOR STORY PLOT #3-**

_Italics-_ narrator is speaking 

**Bold**_- _will be used for the song lyrics of "Trouble" by Coldplay. The majority of the preview will just have the tune to the song instead of the actual lyrics.

Regular- setting the scene and the dialogue between the characters

When the word *FLASH* appears, it means the scene changes

Warning: It very AU! Remus and Lily are _twins_. Again, major AU!

Read On!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_The bonds of being a twin are hard to break_

*FLASH*

"Remmie?" whispered a little redhead about the age of five.

A little boy at the same age lifted his head off his pillow and rubbed his tired eyes.

"What?" he whispered back.

"I had a bad dream…can I sleep in here tonight?"

Remus frowned and then said reluctantly, "Sure."

Lily rushed over and hopped into his bed, giving him a great bear hug.

_How far could someone go to actually break the bonds?_

*FLASH*

A big flash of lightning followed by a big burst of thunder came suddenly inside a park. A foot stepped in the muddy ground.

A little kid with light brown hair pushed his way passed a bunch of bushes. 

"Lily!" he shouted, "Come on, mum says we have to leave." He paused, hearing no answer and then shouted again, "Lily!"

Lightning flashed again.

*FLASH*

"Mum, I can't find Lily," the little boy cried out, running towards an older woman, man, and three other little boys, one with glasses and black hair, one with longer wavy black hair, and one with light blonde hair and a small nose. They were all under some umbrellas.

The older woman snapped her head around to look at her son. Her eyes were full of worry. "Where was she last, Remus?"
    
    **I never meant to cause you trouble,**
    
    **And I never meant to do you wrong,**
    
    _How far could someone go to split a once happy, close-knit family?_
    
    *FLASH*
    
    "Eight year olds just don't _disappear_, Margaret!" shouted a man, Joseph Evans, furiously inside the living room of a once cozy house.
    
    "Don't you think I know that!" screamed back a woman. Neither of them noticed their son, Remus, sitting on the stairs, gripping the banister tightly, his eyes full of sadness and dread.
    
    *FLASH*
    
    _How long does it take to forget your other half?_
    
    "Happy Birthday, Remus!" smiled Margaret. You could tell it was a forced smile. Deep inside, Margaret was crying her heart and soul out. This was the third 'single' birthday instead of 'double' birthday in a row they'd be celebrating.
    
    "Thanks mum," said eleven year old Remus, a little downheartedly. "Has a certain letter come yet?" he asked pointedly, talking about his Hogwarts letter.
    
    Margaret smiled even wider and pulled out an envelope from behind her, "Just now."
    
    **And I, well if I ever caused you trouble,**
    
    **O no, I never meant to do you harm.**
    
    *FLASH*
    
    "Mum says it's alright if you stayed over for the summer," said Remus, pulling more mashed potatoes onto his plate.
    
    James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew had on identical grins; "Excellent!" said James and Sirius at the same time.
    
    "We're going to have such a blast this summer," said Peter.
    
    "Yes well, she said that it would be nice to have some noise in the house again," said Remus with a sort of grim smile.
    
    Immediately, the boys all became somber, thinking of their good friend, Remus' twin sister.
    
    **O no I see,**
    
    **A spider web and it's me in the middle,**
    
    *FLASH*
    
    From somewhere in a far away gothic, cold castle, a redheaded girl walked somberly in a corridor, coming across a room where her father and his 'guests' have always conducted their 'business meetings'.
    
    She looked in the room and saw her father right away on the high throne surrounded by people in dark cloaks. Her father hissed angrily at someone and, surprisingly, looked up straight at Lily.
    
    "LILY!" he whispered angrily, "You know you're not supposed to listen in on Daddy's meetings."
    
    Lily kept her head down meekly, "I-I'm sorry Father. I-I was just walking along the corridor. I'll be on my way now."
    
    _How far would someone go to learn the truth?_
    
    *FLASH*
    
    "I've got to get out of here," Lily whispered to herself, wiping away the tears that she had shed a few moments earlier after being thrown and locked in her room.
    
    "There's got to be something better out there," she murmured, pulling herself up to her feet to look out her tiny window and up at the winter night sky. "I'm living in a prison."
    
    **So I twist and turn,**
    
    **Here I am in love in a bubble,**
    
    *FLASH*
    
    "Can you please tell me how to get to the Headmaster's office," Lily asked, keeping her head down to hide her bruises.
    
    The boy gave her a funny look and said, "You look like you should visit the hospital wing first."
    
    *FLASH*
    
    "Who's your father, Lily?" asked Dumbledore seriously from his place on her bedside.
    
    Lily opened and closed her mouth a few times, not saying anything, looking down at the ground timidly.
    
    "You can tell me, Lily," pressed Dumbledore gently.
    
    "I-I don't know if I can," said Lily quietly, "You see, I think you and he don't get along too well."
    
    Dumbledore furrowed his brows, "You need not fear me, Lily."
    
    Lily took a deep breathe and said softly, almost inaudibly, "My Father…is whom you'd referred to as…Lord Voldemort."
    
    **Singing, I never meant to cause you trouble,**
    
    **I never meant to do you wrong,**
    
    *FLASH*
    
    "How could she forget us!" snarled James, stamping his foot like a child.
    
    "It's the 'Obliviate' curse, Mr. Potter," said Dumbledore. "She remembers nothing about her first eight years of life, including the people she once loved."
    
    *FLASH*
    
    "For now, I want her to be with someone _at all times_," ordered Dumbledore. "Who knows what Voldemort may be planning to get her back." 
    
    The rest of the teachers nodded in agreement. 
    
    _How much could a person suffer to figure if her reality really is reality…or if her life has been one huge lie?_
    
    *FLASH*
    
    Rain was pelting down on Voldemort and Lily.
    
    "I took care of you, Lily. I clothed, sheltered, and fed you. I am your father," soothed Voldemort in a too-persuasive tone.
    
    Lily's scowl only deepened and she snarled at him, "I have no idea _who_ my father is, thanks to you…Voldemort."
    
    **And I, well if I ever caused you trouble,**
    
    **Although I never meant to do you harm.**
    
    "See? We have the same eyes, Lily. You _are_ my daughter," said Joseph.
    
    Lily stared at him with wide eyes.
    
    **They spun a web for me,**
    
    **They spun a web for me,**
    
    **They spun a web for me.**
    
    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    
    A/N- Please tell me which one: Story 1, Story 2, or Story 3!
    
      
    
      
    
    


	38. Two More Possible Story Plots, Sorry

A/N- I really couldn't resist to put up two more choices…you're probably all detesting me right about now. And rightfully so. I haven't updated a story in forever, I'm writing pointless one-shots, and I'm bothering you all with two other possible storylines. I apologize for the additional story plots, but, I do have a reason for not updating at all this week. I had a bit of an accident and was in the hospital for a couple of days, I won't bore you with details. I got back a few days ago, not really wanting to update…laziness, sorry. Occasionally I got on my computer at home at read some stories, but that was about it. 

Anyway, please read these two and vote again! 

Oh, and check out my newest one-shot, Beyond Death.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**Rules for Story Plot #4-**

***BOLD*- **Song lyrics to "The Reason" by Hoobastank

~_Italics_~- narrator is speaking

Regular- setting the scene and dialogue between characters

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_~It's natural to be bold about standing up for something you believe in.~_

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Read any good books lately, Snivellus? Concerning the Dark Arts, perhaps?" asked James Potter, a gleaming, almost hungry look in his eyes, much like a lion eyeing his prey.

Snape whipped around, a shaky hand reaching into his robes. Because of all the fumbling, his robes were twisted all around his arm and hand, preventing him to pull out his wand. He, with an air of panic, thrashed his robes about and freed himself, only to find that in all that time, James and Sirius Black had both aimed their wands toward him.

***I'm not a perfect person**

**As many things I wish I didn't do***

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_~But, where do you draw the line between 'bold' and 'cruel'?~_

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Honestly, Potter! Leave him alone!" shouted a usually soft voice over the buzz of the crowded corridor. James turned to spot the familiar flash of red hair in the mob of people.

***But I continue learning  
I never meant to do those things to you***__

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_~Sometimes, the things we do with good intentions come back to haunt us.~_

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

  
"I know…we all know…that you didn't do this on purpose, Prongs. It was just an accident." Sirius spoke hesistently.

"An accident that never should have happened," cut in James. He raised a hand to run threw his hair, then realized what he was doing and instead took the same hand, picked up his wand, and hurled it across the room with all his might.****

**   
*And so I have to say before I go  
That I just want you to know*  
  
**

"_'He means well'_ is useless unless _he does well_," argued Lily. Remus contemplated that thought.

**  
*I've found a reason for me  
To change who I used to be*  
  
**

"Eventually, you will all catch up with the rest of us…maturity wise, I mean," said Lily.

"Look around you, Evans," cut in Sirius, extending his arms out towards the crowd of onlookers, "You're the only person, save some of the teachers and a few other select students, in this entire school that is so uptight you can't enjoy anything fun."

***A reason to start over new  
and the reason is you*  
  
**

"Don't you think everyone has enough to worry about with the troubles outside of this castle without having to intervene with the small war between you two?" snapped Professor McGonagall.

**  
*I'm sorry that I hurt you***

"Oh no," murmured someone from the crowd.

"What spells was she hit with?"

**  
*It's something I must live with everyday***

"This voice of reason is choosing to be silent at the moment," said Lily, folding her arms across her chest.

**  
*And all the pain I put you through  
I wish that I could take it all away***

"You have like a split personality, Potter," insisted Lily, "one minute you're regretful, the next spiteful. I'm tired of trying to guess which is the real you."

**  
*And be the one who catches all your tears  
Thats why i need you to hear***

"You know what you're problem is, Evans? You've got your values all mixed up," snapped James.

"Me?! _I'm _not the one with my values askew, Potter. I know what is right and what is wrong!" retorted Lily.**  
  
*I've found a resaon for me  
To change who I used to be***

"People are more apt to judge you based on your actions rather than your intentions," reminded Remus.

"Let's see how some of these 'people' would handle being in my shoes for a day, Remus. Then see what they say about my actions," argued James.

**  
*A reason to start over new  
and the reason is You *  
  
**

"You sure about this, Prongs?" said Sirius dubiously.

"After what just happened, Padfoot? I've never been surer about anything in my entire life," said James.

**  
*I'm not a perfect person  
I never meant to do those things to you***

"I've changed Lily…for the better," insisted James.

Lily looked him up and down skeptically. "We'll see," she answered.

**  
*And so I have to say before I go  
That I just want you to know*  
  
**

"STOP! Stop this now!" screamed Lily, rushing over to the fallen James.

**  
*I've found a reason for me  
To change who I used to be***

"I believe, James," breathed Lily, "People can change. I believe in you."

**  
*A reason to start over new  
and the reason is you*  
  
**

"Look around you, Black," murmured Lily, her eyes closing slowly, her voice crackling and pained, "I'm the only person, save some of the teachers and a few other select students, in this entire school that is so uptight I can't enjoy _anything_ fun... until now, I guess." As if on cue, she coughed violently then lost consciousness.

**  
*I've found a reason to show  
A side of me you didn't know***

"You are all the future. What you do now reflects who you will be once you finally grow up," said McGonagall.

**  
*A reason for all that I do***

 "Let's see…Now that James' head is back to its normal, rightful size, it seems that Snape's head is the one larger than average…did you both just swap personalities, mate?" observed Sirius. 

"What I'd like to know is does anyone have a hot air balloon that needs filling?" chimed in Remus.

**  
*And the reason is you***

**Rules for Story Plot #5-**

Play the song, "The Mummers Dance", by Loreena McKennitt in the background

~_Italics_~- narrator is speaking

Regular- setting the scene and dialogue between characters

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

_Nobody is born evil. Nobody is born bold and daring. It's the incidences in our lives that make us who we are._

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I wouldn't be so quick to celebrate, Minerva," said Dumbledore, taking a look at the list in front of him, "It appears that his younger brother, James, is starting this year." He stole a glance up at her, his eyes twinkling merrily.

McGonagall smiled grimly, "Well, I guess it goes without saying that this year, along with the next six years, may be interesting."

Dumbledore took another look at the list, spotting a few that stood out more than others: Black, Bellatrix; Black, Sirius; and Snape, Severus.

"More than we'd imagined."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_Those incidences are the memories that stay with us forever_

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Black, Sirius," McGonagall called out. The hall went completely silent, each occupant wondering inwardly if this boy would be placed within the same house as his cousin.

The boy confidently walked up to the stool, sat down, and put on the old, tattered hat.

What the hat said after a few minutes of silence could very well have been worthy enough to be written in the newest edition of Hogwarts: A History.

"Gryffindor!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"This is it, Sirius. Getting into Slytherian was your last hope of ever becoming a real Black," said Bellatrix, smiling sardonically, "I just can't wait to see what your mother's reaction will be."

"Maybe now I'll have a chance of escaping a lifetime in Azkaban," retorted Sirius, smiling just as sardonically. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Y-you won't tell on us…will you?" stuttered Peter, shaking, a bit intimidated at the size of the onlooker.

Hagrid studied the four in front of him. After a pause, he said, "No harm done, I suppose."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_They teach us things. They help us to make a choice._

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"What is it you'd like to be after Hogwarts?" asked McGonagall.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"An auror," replied James at once.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"An auror," Sirius stated with hesitation.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Errr…" Remus trailed off uncertainly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Perhaps something to do with Charms," Lily answered thoughtfully.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I've always liked the idea of…a chef," said Peter, wringing his hands in his laps.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Snape wordlessly raised an eyebrow.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Oh, I'm taken care of after Hogwarts," replied Bella, a bit snottily.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Er…how about…Ludo Bagman," answered Josh Nesher, a Ravenclaw.

"I said '_what_', Nesher, not _'whom'_," said McGonagall dryly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_In a world where your childhood is merely training you for the future…_

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Who is this madman?" asked Lily, looking over her shoulder at the Daily Prophet.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Dark times are coming, Severus," said Bella, stepping out of the dark corner, "The question is: which side will you be on when they come?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"What are you doing with that kind of book, Evans?"

"That's no business of yours, Black. Side out of my way," replied Lily scathingly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_Who can you turn to?_

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I know it feels like your world is collapsing, but it's really only shifting a little," said James with sad eyes.

"How can you say that, James," asked Lily sorrowfully, "You've got it worse than the rest of us."

"At least I still have the rest of you to turn to," said James.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Gryffindors stick together. Remember this because it'll probably be the last time I say it, but Hufflepuff and Gryffindor have at least one thing in common: loyalty," said Sirius.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


	39. The Dishonesty That is the Daily Prophet

"As well they should be," snapped McGonagall a little tersely, "Even the bravest of hearts have fears. No child should be subjected to that kind of inane madness at this crucial point in their life."

Dumbledore drew in a long, tired breath and said quietly and effectively, "Voldemort (he ignored McGonagall's flinch) may have failed in his original plan, God know what it may have been, but he did succeed in something greater. He struck fear into the lives of not only all of Hogwarts peers, but their parents as well. I will be most concerned in seeing just how many parents pull their children out of Hogwarts for good."

* * *

Dumbledore and McGonagall's conversation went on unnoticed to the Marauders, whom had taken their seats, albeit stiffly, for the tension had not only been in the hospital wing, the Gryffindor common room, and the Transfiguration classroom, but the Great Hall as well. Lily had a feeling that the world beyond that of Hogwarts was just as strained and tinted with fear. Surely by now the word has gotten out to the rest of the Wizarding community that Voldemort and his followers had been bold and cowardly enough to strike at the lowest point in wizards' status. A trainload full of under-trained, ignorant, and innocent school children.

"The post should be here soon," commented Remus, his greyish-blue eyes shooting heavenward to observe the fascinating bolts of lightning and heart-shattering booms of thunder.

"How long d'ya think the storm will last?" spoke Peter, lifting his beady eyes in the direction of Remus'.

"Who knows? Probably not too longer. It's been this way for two days after all." chimed in Sirius, happily sinking himself into any sort of conversation, even one as boring as the weather. It was rather unnerving to actually be able to hear your own heartbeat in the Great Hall during lunch time. Tiny wisps of what they could only assume to be whispers from their peers penetrated their ears occasionally, but that was it. No cocky second years conversing with the new and timid first years about what their past experiences were the year before. No arrogant Gilderoy Lockhart shouting as loud as he could to anyone who would listen about his "thrilling" adventures the past summer. And the thing that unnerved them all to no end:

No invitations from the opposite sex for dates.

Not trying to come off as egocentric, but usually the first day back was hectic in that area. Whether it be Hufflepuff girls, Ravenclaw boys, or first year, ignorant and confident Slytherians, there was always at least six people yearning to chat away with the group of five 6th year Gryffindors.

At that moment, Sirius was pulled into a much less dull conversation. Frank and Shelia both practically dropped into seats next to the Marauders. Both looked exhausted; you could easily see dark bags under their weary eyes.

"How are you, Lily, James?" asked Frank, rubbing his eyes. When he opened them again, Lily realized they were bloodshot.

"We're both fine. Madame Pomfrey fixed us up straight away," answered James.

"What about you two?" asked Sirius, shoving some shepard's pie into his hungry mouth.

"Been up all night with some of the teachers and Dumbledore," explained Frank, "chaos at the Ministry-,"

"Not just the Ministry," cut in Shelia, shaking some of her unkempt hair out of her eyes, "all of England and Scotland, the wizarding parts, at least-,"

"Word reached the Daily Prophet last night about 2:00. Seen the paper yet?" continued Frank, casting each of them a penetrating look.

They all five shook their heads.

"Post hasn't arrived yet," answered Remus.

"Oh, they sure had a field day with this one, they did," griped Shelia angrily. "Had some of their reporters arrive here last night, lickity split, precisely seven minutes after catching wind of the...incident. Insisted on waking the both of you," she indicated Lily and James, "up last night. Said they wanted to get their facts straight, they did. Said they had a right to know. But Dumbledore was very firm on keeping them away from the two of you. Said you've been through enough for the time being, he did."

"So, they printed without your input. Bundles of those papers hit the streets all over England and Scotland straight away after they finished the article. The way parents were sending howlers to Dumbledore starting at 4:00 this morning, the Headmaster shoulda just let the both of you give your statements."

"They, the reporters that is, blew this whole thing completely out of proportion. You know some of the rumors going around the school?" asked Shelia.

"Like the one with both of us fighting off seven hippogriffs and three dragons," smiled Lily, the thought so ludicrous it was hilarious.

Frank and Shelia nodded, "Yes, that one. Well, that rumor, and many others, didn't just start from one random student. That was in the article from the Daily Prophet."

James, who was in the process of drinking some of his ice cold pumpkin juice, promptly spit it out, sputtering indignantly, "Honestly!"

"You're not serious!" exclaimed Lily practically at the same time as James. A rather large crackle of thunder practically shook the castle at that moment.

Frank nodded solemnly, "Oh, we are, trust us."

"You would expect this from some silly kid, but not from grown witches and wizards!" Shelia's outburst was droned out by the way the Marauders started up on their own objections.

Finally, their yelling got so bad, that by the time Frank got the five sixth years to calm down, the majority of the Great Hall was looking in their direction.

"Bloody unbelievable," muttered Sirius under his breath, planting his chin in between his two fists on the table.

"Well, we didn't mean to cause a riot in the middle of the Great Hall today, I must say," said Frank, finally helping himself to some chicken and potatoes. His brows were drawn down, making him look like he had one long uni-brow, and his mouth was set into a firm frown as he shoved some carrots around his plate with a fork.

"Is there anything else bothering you, Frank?" Lily asked, knowing full well the amount of stupidity the question held the second it left her mouth. As if all that has happened in the past day hadn't been enough to make Frank look as preoccupied as he did.

Surprising her, Frank sighed and said in such a quiet voice, Lily had to strain her ears just to hear him say it. "I don't know...just...this whole thing...(he sighed again)..." he broke off and looked up at her and the rest of them, "I've wanted to be an auror for 13 years of my life...and it's taken pretty near 24 hours for me to realize that I'm not fit for this position. I'm not even fit to assist running a school." He dropped his fork with a clatter and put dropped his face into his hands before speaking in a muffled voice, "If I could, I would resign my position."

He went on despite the second outburst the Marauders had exclaimed, "As it is, Dumbledore's already denied my permission to do that. Bloody mistake that is in my opinion."

"Frank, it wasn't your fault it happened," said Lily desperately, comfortingly placing her hand atop his, concern written all over her features.

"Yeah, Frank, it was nobody's fault. You did all you could in your power. You and Shelia." said James.

"It was Voldemort's fault, that who it was...well, him and-," Sirius broke off, jerking his head in the direction of the Slytherian table.

Frank and Shelia both turned in their seats and viewed Lucius Malfoy talking with some of his old buddies. Jerome Crab and Alazar Mirish were clapping him on the back, obvious delighted at his return to Hogwarts. Frank and Shelia both scowled as they turned back around.

"So, you think Malfoy had something to do with all this?" asked Frank conversationally, still downcast.

Sirius scoffed, "Of course. There's no question about it."

Remus, not wanting more attention drawn to them, said in a low key voice, "Can you tell us anymore about what's been happening?"

Just at that moment, a heart-stopping flash of lightning illuminated the already brilliantly lit Great Hall.

"'Fraid not, Lupin," said Shelia, shortly. "Dumbledore's sworn us to secrecy about most of the stuff we discussed last night."

"Besides, not even Dumbledore knows too much about what has happened...well, he knows about Voldemort and everything, but..." he trailed off, casting a quick glance over at Lily.

"What on earth was that bubble thing?" loudly butted in Shelia, curiosity overcoming subtlety. Another sound of thunder, accompanied by a flash of lightning, made for the perfect effects to Shelia's question. Frank shot Shelia a look that could curdle milk.

Lily fidgeted in her seat, a tinge of pink appearing on her cheeks as more and more people around them that had heard Shelia's question turned their heads to glance at her, an almost desperate-for-information desired look in their eyes. Rita Skeeter from the Ravenclaw table was peering at her with hungry, animal on the prowl look, her hands gripping a quill and parchment readily. Clarence Kreppets from Hufflepuff was gaping stupidly at her, his mouth hanging open and exposing a disgustingly half-chewed piece of bacon. Luckily, neither the Slytherians nor the teachers had heard Shelia, so their attention was away from her.

"I-I don't know," she said softly, looking down at her plate. For some reason, at that moment, she felt self-conscious about what had happened. Before, it had only baffled her. But now, seeing her peers' reactions to what she had done not only embarrassed her, but it also frightened her. After all, Dumbledore had done ten times more powerful things than any of them, and they had never once, not once, looked at him as though he were some new animal in a cage at a zoo. But that's what they were doing to Lily.

James, seeing Lily's affection to all this, gripped her hand and squeezed it. He said loudly, with a tone of finality, "Lily and I are going to grab out books for the next class." With that, he pulled Lily from the bench and rushed her out the Great Hall.

* * *

From up at the teachers' table, Dumbledore looked on with a pondering stare.

The next morning, the storm had finally stopped and the sun was able to shine brilliantly upon Hogwarts once more. Unfortunately, the sun seemed to have been the only cheery thing around those parts.

"...'We at the Daily Prophet have been most fortunate at locating a few select individuals at Hogwarts to grace us with some answers that not only us, but our Wizarding community as a whole, have been wondering. Rita Skeeter, a delightful fifth year student at Hogwarts, was kind enough to inform us about the details of the recent attack on Hogwarts' youth.

"I was in my safely locked up compartment the time the dreadfully frightening incident occurred. Luckily, I was able to see the terrifying action going on outside with Lily Evans, James Potter, and You-Know-Who." stated Skeeter, "At first, it was just Lily, You-Know-Who, and his...deatheaters. Then, suddenly, he snapped his fingers and about ten, no, fifteen hippogriffs and twelve dragons appeared. By that time, James had run out of the train and, oh, it was so strange. They, James and Lily I mean, started to talk to one another. Then I saw them pull out their wands and shout the Stupefy curse. And...and the beam of light, purple it was, _split_ into four separate beams and hit four of You-Know-Who's deatheaters. Oh my, it was strange indeed. And then-,'"

"Stop, just stop reading Moony," James cut Remus off. Remus looked up from his copy of the Daily Prophet, staring at James and Lily both from across his seat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall at breakfast that morning. Everyone's owl showed up for breakfast, beings that none of them had reached their owners yesterday, all day, on account of the storm. Meaning that practically every single occupant in the Great Hall was reading, whispering, or pointing about at Lily and James right now after receiving their own copy of the Daily Prophet.

Lily's hands were balled up into fists, squeezing them so tightly that the blood had drained from them, leaving them to look like two small snowballs. Her face was flushed with anger and embarrassment as she caught some of the pointed stares being thrown her way by most of her peers. James took one of her hands into his and forced it open so he could hold it properly. She relaxed a little, but not enough to stop an outburst of fury.

"That bloody Rita Skeeter!" She cast a furious glance over at the Ravenclaw who was filing her nails, purposely avoiding any of the Marauders' stares.

"What a rotten, little liar," breathed Peter, straining his neck to catch a glimpse of the article Remus held in his hands.

James nodded, finishing the last of his pancakes and said through a mouthful of it, "Well, no need to dwell upon old news, now is there? Let's go fetch our books. We have Charms in fifteen minutes." He pulled Lily up and the others followed him out the Great Hall, purposefully ignoring any and all stares they were receiving.

* * *

"Oh, I just can't take it anymore! I'm going to the library! Don't wait up, James!" exclaimed Lily, shooting to her feet, letting go of James' hand, and practically running out of the Gryffindor common room.

She and James had just been asked about the incident for the fourteenth time as they were trying to peacefully do their homework on their favorite couch in front of the fire. The day had been rough. Flitwick decided that just because it was their sixth year, void of the OWLs and NEWTs, that didn't mean the workload would be any less the harder. If anything, it was worse than their previous year. Already he had assigned them a twelve foot essay on the origin of the Replacement Charm and had told them to be expecting a quiz during their next session.

Unfortunately, Hooch and McGonagall obtained the same attitude two days ago when the Marauders had Transfiguration and Herbology.

Lily was reaching a boiling point all day, and the little second year girl that had just curiously asked her about it had sent her straight off the edge. James had calmly told her to go away. He had been the sensible one for the past two days, surprisingly. It had seemed as though their roles had switched. Because, you see, never before had Lily blown up at a younger student. Never in her life. That, ironically, had been James' job.

So, after all that, James was left to stare at the fire in front of him pensively, going over all of the events from the previous week. He knew that Lily was just stressed, more than usual, and that was why she was acting the way she was. So, he wasn't too concerned about that.

Despite his calmness towards the curious students, he couldn't help but feel a hidden anger deep within him. The sting of his father not being the Minister of Magic and being accused of such things as Dark Magic affected him tremendously, even if he hadn't shown it.

Of course, Wellington was taking it much worse that he...and showing it as well. That afternoon in Potions, someone had made a remark about 'administering the batch in (they had been talking about a batch of freshly cut frog legs)', but Cassandra, lost in her own little woeful world and thinking about her tragic life, heard 'assistant Minister of Magic' and went completely off the edge. She screamed to the innocent people, "My father _will_ return to office!!! Just you wait!!!"

James started to laugh quietly to himself, relishing in the thought of the lost, frantic look that had delightfully placed itself into Cassandra's eyes at that moment. It was when James' laugh had gotten a bit louder that Sirius, Remus, and Peter walked into the common room, heading straight for him.

"Hey James," greeted Peter, all three of them giving him a weird look, not expecting him to be so cheerful at that time.

"Where's Lily?" Remus asked, noticing the redhead's absence.

"Where else? The library." James's laughs subsided. The three others joined him on the couch and started in on their heavy load of homework as well.

* * *

A/N- hello everyone. I'm sorry for such a long pause in this story, as well as my others. It's been a little weird around here. I've had another...well, event happen to me and I've been back in the hospital. I'm sorry if this seemed a little short and a bit choppy and rushed, I really wanted to get this out as soon as possible. And, the fact that I haven't been too well has left me a little not up too standards. This chapter didn't finish up the rest of the preview things like I wanted it to, but I'm hoping the next chapter will. I'm hoping I won't get any negative reviews from this chapter (all the grammar mistakes and maybe some sentences not making sense). Just keep in mind that I haven't been well for a couple of weeks and I'm still recovering. I really don't want to tell you all what happened, so I ask you to just bear with me as I try to update my other stories as soon as possible.

About the poll of the other story plots. As soon as I get around to it and feeling up to it, I'll start off with story # 3, then #4, followed by #1, then #2, and finally #5. If you find that the outcome didn't coincide with the reviews I have gotten, it is because I also asked friends and family members.

Thank you to everyone who has been patiently waiting. You all deserve much more than this.

* * *

In case some of you forgot what the preview things were, here they are again:  
  
"What's he doing here?!"  
  
"That was about the biggest load of crap I've ever heard in my entire life."

"I don't trust him." "I don't believe it." "They can't take you away!" "Some Christmas this will be." "Peeves, put down the water balloons!" 


	40. Great Expectations

**Previously:**

"Hey James," greeted Peter, all three of them giving him a weird look, not expecting him to be so cheerful at that time.

"Where's Lily?" Remus asked, noticing the redhead's absence.

"Where else? The library." James's laughs subsided. The three others joined him on the couch and started in on their heavy load of homework as well.

* * *

The next morning, any previous anger Lily had contained was gone. She had told her friends the night before when she had returned to the library that studying had always calmed her down. That statement could have gone without saying since everyone in the entire school, even the Slytherins, knew that. Nonetheless, James in particular had been relieved. He hated to see her so stressed. And this was the most he'd seen her be in quite some time. 

"Alright, Lily?" asked Remus the next day. She finished her huge yawn and gave him a tired smile, grasping James' hand in her own. The five friends were walking down the Great Hall for breakfast early that morning.

"I'm fine, Remus, just a little tired, I suppose," Lily shrugged, "Cassandra's been keeping the whole dorm up with her late night rants. The stress is getting to her, I think."

"She's lived her whole life being spoiled rotten. She's not used to living outside of the spotlight," reckoned Sirius, his voice seeming to be a lot lighter and carefree than usual.

Peter raised and eyebrow at him, "Well, you sure seem to be relishing in that fact."

Sirius grinned, "You kidding? That girl had this and more coming to her since first year. About bloody time she was put in her place." He flung his arms around Lily and Peter, the two nearest to him while they walked down the corridor.

"Language, Padfoot," Remus scolded lightly. Sirius merely rolled his eyes and looked over at Lily, grinning sheepishly when he saw the reprimanding look in her eye.

"So, what's on the agenda today, lads?" asked James.

"Classes," Lily replied simply, nudging him in the ribs gently, "_lad_."

"We've got…" Remus took a quick glance at his time schedule, "Care of Magical Creatures first with…Hufflepuffs."

"Heard there's a new teacher this year. Kettleburn, I believe his name was." Peter chimed in.

Before anyone else could reply, the five found themselves seated at their table, pulling various varieties of breakfast items onto their plates.

"You lot have _got _to start chewing your food," Lily said as she observed their eating habits, taking small, bit sized portions into her mouth, "One of these days, you'll choke on a piece of bacon, and I don't know CPR."

"I have _no_ idea what CPR is," James said through a mouthful of food, "but I _do_ know-," He broke off all conversation as the Headmaster walked into the hall, accompanied with, in James' and the other four's opinion, a very unwelcome guest.

"What's_ he_ doing here?!" Sirius exclaimed loudly after a few minutes of silence on the Marauders' part. A few of the curious students around them turned to look at James' reaction. He was gripping his goblet of pumpkin juice so tight that some were afraid it would break. The glare of pure rage he threw at Fudge would have curdled milk. He was muttering obscenities under his breath that would have made his mother gasp in indignation.

Almost every pair of eyes was upon their Headmaster and new Minister of Magic. Some, the ones most supportive of James' father, looked scandalized seeing Fudge there. Though, quite a few looked more than interested and intrigued to see the Minister there. The question Sirius had exclaimed swirled around in almost every student's mind.

Answering everyone's question, Dumbledore stood before the Great Hall, tapping his goblet to quiet the hall down. Though, that action was superfluous since no one was talking. His booming voice captured the attention of any diverted student, "Good morning everyone. Hungry, are you?" A few murmurs of affirmation answered his question, "Well, in that case, I must apologize, for breakfast will be delayed today." He was met with groans and simply chuckled, turning to Fudge who was standing to his right, "Though you may finish whatever is on your plate. I have with me today a guest. Students and faculty, Mr. Cornelius Fudge, who requested some time with you this morning." Everyone clapped politely except for a select few.

Lily noticed Cassandra sitting a few seats away, gripping the table tightly with her now white hands. Kelly and Stacy were whispering useless words of comfort to her, but she seemed not to have heard. She was simply staring wide-eyed at the Headmaster, a look of hurt across her face. Lily could practically read her mind, 'Why did Dumbledore allow this horrible man enter Hogwarts?' Suddenly, Cassandra's expression turned stony and hard as her eyes traveled to Fudge. She glared hatefully at the man. Lily's eyes widened a little when she saw Cassandra make to stand up, mouth opening purposefully as she inhaled a deep breath, most likely to use to scream out in objection. Though, before she could even go noticed to many in the hall, Kelly and Stacy, and even Frank Longbottom pulled her back into her seat.

Taking one cautious look at James to make sure he was behaving himself- he was being carefully monitored by Remus and Peter, while Sirius simply shared James' expression and stared venomously at the new Minister- Lily decided to focus her attention to the now speaking man in front of the Great Hall, "…pleasure to be here today. I know you all have some questions about the recent attack on the Hogwarts Express the other day." He said, his tone reeking with absolute confidence. He allowed a very wide smile upon his face. Lily was disgusted to note that he could actually show _all_ his teeth…somewhere in the crowd, fourth year Gilderoy Lockhart was most likely dying with admiration.

"Well, I should start by telling you _why_ he attacked," the Minister went on.

"I don't think I can trust any man who knows the inner-working minds of someone as insane as Voldemort," muttered Sirius to his friends sarcastically.

Lily tuned out the rest of the Minister's speech. She _knew_ all the details. She was _there,_ after all. The Minister's "important" speech turned out to be longer than she had expected. At one point, she had checked her wrist watch and saw with an inward groan that it was already 9:12; they were missing Care of Magical Creatures.

"…years of slacking off and I along with many others will not stand for it any longer." Lily's ears perked up as she turned back to Fudge, "The old Ministry has kept things undercover from the rest of the public, but not the new Ministry. The new Ministry will make sure everyone knows what they have the Merlin-assured right to know. When you speak about this new Ministry, you may as well call it the 'Honest'-ry. The wizarding world is turning over a new leaf, I can tell you. And it's a new leaf of truthfulness." He paused, probably waiting for the dramatic air to thicken before saying with his wide smile, "Thank you for your attention, Hogwarts." He nodded his head and took a seat next to Dumbledore, who shook Fudge's hand. Lily couldn't believe the immediate standing ovation occurring when Fudge finished his incredibly long and boring and completely bogus speech. Many, well _most_, looked absolutely delighted at what the Minister had said. A lot of the previous supporters of James' father seemed to have changed their minds.

Lily turned to look at her friends. To her surprise, James seemed utterly calm, albeit very angry. He simply took a sip of his pumpkin juice while not backing out of his rage filled glare he was directing at Fudge.

"That was about the biggest load of crap I've ever heard in my entire life." Sirius said while taking a large bite of his eggs he hadn't finished.

"Yes," Remus murmured thoughtfully while looking up at the Minister, "I don't trust him." He finally declared after a moment of judgment.

"There's nothing to trust," muttered James, "All of that was a load of rubbish. The Ministry won't allow any news to reach the public's ears- at least, none that will cause chaos and havoc. That would just be pure stupidity, anyone knows that." He turned to Lily, "You didn't hear him tell the school anything about that weird bubble thing, did you?" he asked knowingly.

Lily blinked and realized he hadn't. James was right. Fudge hadn't even expressed the Ministry's either bewilderment or fascination to it.

Dumbledore stood up and tapped his water glass again. It took a little while longer to gain everyone's attention seeing how practically everyone in the hall was talking about the previous speech. "Thank you for your dedicated listening," he said, "As most of you already know, we have talked ourselves right through the first class of the day. Today's first class will start at 10:30, allowing those of you who have yet to eat some time. Your teachers will give you instructions throughout the day on when you should meet your next class." He sat down and the student's started to chatter again.

"You think Dumbledore believes Fudge?" asked Peter, eyeing their headmaster.

James scoffed, "Are you serious?" He rolled his eyes while continuing, "Let's give Dumbledore a _bit_ more credit than that, shall we?"

"Why do you suppose the Headmaster allowed Fudge to come speak?" asked Lily thoughtfully.

Sirius shrugged, "'Cause he's Dumbledore."

Remus gulped down the last remaining sips of his pumpkin juice and said to the rest, "Come on; let's go to class."

Lily got up with the rest of them, slinging her book bag over her shoulders. "I'll meet up with you guys, alright? I've got some unfinished business to attend to." Without waiting for a comment, Lily turned and walked up to the teacher's table. The four Marauders shrugged and walked out of the Great Hall, James looking over his shoulders to catch a glimpse of Lily only to be met with the scary sight of his Potions professor following behind them.

Back in the Great Hall, Lily walked up to the Headmaster, giving a polite, albeit strained smile to the Minister to his right. "Professor?" she softly interrupted.

Dumbledore turned to her and gave her a friendly smile, "Ah, Miss Evans. How are you today?"

Lily nodded, "Fine, thanks. I was wondering if I could have a word in private- if it's not too much trouble, that is," she added, looking between the two older men with uncertainty; they had looked like they were in a serious conversation when she had approached them.

"Ah, no trouble at all," Dumbledore assured her.

"But Alb-," Fudge objected.

Dumbledore went on, apparently having not heard him, "Why don't you go up to my office. I trust you know where it is. The password is 'snicker doodle'. I'll meet you there in a moment." He guided the protesting Fudge out of the Great Hall.

Lily did just that and in a matter of a few minutes, she found herself face to face with Dumbledore's book shelf, inspecting his assortment of novels and textbooks. One particular book caught her eye. _Great Expectations by Charles Dickens_. Lily frowned. It was a muggle book. One of her favorites, actually.

Hesitantly, she pulled it from the shelf. It looked so old, she was afraid she would ruin it. She opened the book so carefully as though the pages would disintegrate by the mere touch of her fingertips. She flipped through the pages, taking in a few of her favorite lines and quotes. On the very last page of the book, Lily found herself staring at some unreadable script written in a glossy blue ink, which caught the natural sunlight flowing into the room and threw the glare into the depths of her eyes. She strained to make out what the seemingly illegible writing said. A few seconds later, her eyes widened, reflecting the few words she had deciphered: …_good friend Albus…Charles Dickens. _This was an autographed copy of Great Expectations!

Lily was quick to make for the book case she had obtained this book from to return it to its dusty home.

"You needn't be discouraged to look at the book, Miss Evans," a familiar voice said suddenly behind her.

Lily gasped in surprise, turning to face Dumbledore. A sheepish look clouded over her features as she apologized, "I'm sorry, Professor. I saw this book and-,"

Dumbledore held up a hand to stop her babbling, "There's nothing to apologize for, Lily," he said, his eyes twinkling as he took a seat at his desk. "Are you a fan of Charles Dickens?"

Lily smiled, "Somewhat," she replied, thinking of the big collection of his books sitting on her bookshelf back at James' home. "You must be quite a fan too, sir." she added, holding up the book which was opened to the last page, the words in ink shining.

Dumbledore smiled and said, "Yes, I'm quite a fan of his works."

"I can tell. It's even a signed copy. If you don't mind me asking, where did you get it?" Lily asked a twinkle in her eye to match her Headmaster.

Dumbledore looked surprised at the question, "Why, from Charles Dickens, Miss Evans," he said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"You got this _from_ Charles Dickens!?" exclaimed Lily, "You mean, you've _met_ him?"

Dumbledore chuckled, "Of course, my dear. He was a very dear friend of mine." Before Lily could say anything, he continued, peering over his half-mooned glasses at her, "Now, I don't think the subject of classical literature is what brought you here today."

Lily placed the book carefully back in its shelf, looking one last time at it before she walked over to a seat in front of Dumbledore, "No, what I wanted to talk about was-,"

"That surprising bit of magic you possessed a few days ago?" Dumbledore finished for her, nodding.

"Yes, that," Lily went on, "Professor, I've done a bit of research for the past couple of days. I've never heard of such a thing- what I did, I mean…and I'm not completely sure I did it. I mean, who's to say someone else didn't put that shield around me. I'm almost _positive_ that _I'm not _that powerful. A blockage for a _killing curse_, I don't think-,"

"My dear," chimed in Dumbledore, ceasing her almost-rant, "Sometimes, a witch or wizard makes something happen unintentionally when they are in danger. I'm sure that's happened to you before whenever you were sad or angry or fearful. Basically whenever your emotions were so intense that they had to escape in some way or form.

"One can never be positive about what he or she is capable of in a time of desperate distress. Some of the greatest occurrences have come to pass because of situations such as the one you and Mr. Potter both were in the other day."

"So, you're saying that that shield could have simply been manifested by my fear?" Lily asked unsurely. "A shield that powerful?"

"If what I've heard is correct, you and James were not the only ones fearful about your well-being. More than half of the students on that train witnessed the exchange between you and Voldemort," said Dumbledore.

Lily's eyes widened, "The students! All of us conjured up a shield around me?!"

Dumbledore smiled, "By pure coincidence, I imagine." He went on, "Now, I do believe you are missing Care of Magical Creatures with Professor Kettleburn."

Lily jumped up, grabbing her school bag, "Oh right! Thank you, Professor. You've really pulled a load out of my mind." She rushed over to the door and pulled it open and hurried out, calling back over her shoulder, "Have a nice day, Professor Dumbledore!"

Dumbledore chuckled and replied, "Same to you, Miss Evans, same to you."

Gradually, his smile dropped to a thoughtful frown, pondering the previous conversation carefully. Albus Dumbledore never really was one to believe in coincidence.

* * *

The next morning at breakfast, Lily's lightened mood was dampened when she received an official Ministry letter accompanied by a plain one from one of the Ministry's owls.

She opened the Ministry's letter first:

_To Whom It May Concern:_

_ This message of requested verification is to be filled out and sent back to the Department of Post Forwards and Deliverances for confirmation upon receiving a forwarded deliverance from a muggle community. Please sign the line below._

_ Sincerely,_

_ Murphy Bucklin_

_ Head of the Department of Post Forwards and Deliverances_

Lily handed the letter over to James who was holding his hand out expectantly. She reached for the second one and tore it open.

"Read it out loud," said Peter, his eyes twinkling with curiosity.

"Alright," said Lily, clearing her throat, "'Dear Miss Lily Evans, we at…Sherman's Social Services Committee?" Lily looked up at her friends, her bewilderment matching the four others, "…we at Sherman's Social Services have just come across your case. After the unfortunately event of your parents' passing, you've been residing at Mr. Harold Potter's home at 32A of Winchester Street in London."

Lily looked up, confused, at James, "32A Winchester Street? That's not your address."

James said almost impatiently, wanting to know the letter's purpose, "Of course it isn't. But Sherman's Social Services is obviously a muggle business, isn't it? And 832 Hufflepuff Lane, our real address, isn't in muggle records, is it?"

Lily nodded understandingly and continued on, "…of Winchester Street in London for the past couple of years. It has just been brought to our knowledge a more in-depth look at your parents' will. Due to a mistake on our part, we must have overlooked a particular part of significance. It has been stated in the said will that if anything should ever fatally happen to either of your parents, your legal guidance to you and your sister would be placed with Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Weithfeld-,"

She broke off, her face draining quickly of color. When her eyes met James' it was obvious he too knew what was going on.

"What?" asked Peter, "What's going on? Who are Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Withheld-,"

"Weithfeld," Lily cut in, her voice shaky. She looked over to Remus and Sirius who were quite confused, "My aunt and uncle…apparently they have legal custody over me."

"They can't take you away!" exclaimed Sirius.

"They'll let you stay at my house, right?" asked James, looking quite pale as well.

Lily shook her head in negativity immediately hearing the question, "No, I don't think so…they despise anything magic. They all but disowned me when they found out I was a witch. No, they'd never let me live at someone's house they knew possessed magical abilities."

"Surely if they hate you enough to disown you, they'd _want_ you out of their house," exclaimed Remus.

Lily's eyes traveled through the rest of the letter. She shoulders drooped, "It says they get monthly child support paid to them while I'm in their custody." She looked back up at Remus, "No, I'm sure they want me _in_ they're house."

James dropped his face into his hands, sighing loudly. Lily mirrored this action, feeling absolute dread in her stomach. At that moment, she felt something light fall on her head and looked up, finding another letter in front of her. "Ugh," she said quietly, shaking her head, "Someone else read it for me. I don't think I can handle it."

Remus obediently grabbed the letter, tearing open the envelope and smoothing it out onto the surface before him. "Dear Lily, Your uncle and I hope you've received the letter from Sherman's well. Due to this surprising news, we reluctantly request that you spend Christmas here with us. Betty and Jack, Sue and Albert, your cousins, and your grandparents have also requested that you leave all your magical "supplies" at your school. Bring only the necessities.

All your stuff from Mr. and Mrs. Potter's home has been moved into a room at our estate. I will write you once more to give you more details about your winter holidays. Since I'd like to hear nothing about your school life, I'd appreciate it if you'd keep your plights to yourself and stay out of trouble at that "school" of yours.

Sincerely yours,

Aunt Catherine.

Remus looked up from the letter with uncertainty. There was an awkward silence before Sirius said, trying to be a comic relief, "She sounds pleasant."

"She's not," Lily said shortly, grabbing the letter out of Remus' hand. "Some Christmas this will be," she said as she quickly grabbed James' hand and dragged him out of the hall, needing someone to vent to in private.

Only a few seconds after they both disappeared out of the hall, the majority of the students in the dining area heard James' booming voice shout out, "Peeves, put _down_ the water balloons!" right before a couple of loud _SPLASH!_ sounds were heard.

* * *

A/N- Hi everyone! Hope you all liked that chapter. I didn't read through it; I only used the spell check, so there may be some grammatical errors in here. And…(drum roll, please)… 

I think the time has finally come for me to ask for some assistance. Is _anyone_ interested in being my beta-reader???

I'd like to thank the following people:

Mistress del mare - thank you for _all _those reviews! I really appreciated them; it's always a real treat to get reviews, and you gave me quite a few . And, thanks for telling me the _correct_ spelling of _Slytherins_, lol.

limbo-gal- thanks, I know, I'm sorry it wasn't as good as the rest…I only hope this one redeems my reputations ;).

Katie- thank you _so_ much! I _love_ long reviews! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

J.E.A.R.K.Potter- you are one of my most faithful reviewers! You rock!!!!! Thank you _SO_ much!

TiffanyWriterMainiac- Thanks for the review! I loved your story The Marauder's Era!

sour-peach- Thank you _so_ much!!!!!!!! I'm so happy you liked it!

Batgirl- Thanks for the review

* * *

Here's the previews:

"You think she believes that?"

"You've all been doing what I've asked?"

"Ever feel like you're being watched?"

"Another _delightful_ letter from Auntie Catherine."

"She really is a _lovely_ woman, isn't she?"


	41. Dark Corridors

Preview:

Only a few seconds after they both disappeared out of the hall, the majority of the students in the dining area heard James' booming voice shout out, "Peeves, put down the water balloons!" right before a couple of loud SPLASH! sounds were heard.

* * *

"And you think she believes that?"

"I think she wants to believe it," Dumbledore answered, staring out the window of his office, his hands clasped firmly behind his back.

"But Albus," said Minerva McGonagall from her place in the corner of his room, near the bookshelf Lily had been inspecting yesterday, "Do you think it wise to fill Miss Evans head with lies at this point in time?"

Dumbledore turned around, "Miss Evans is a special student, Minerva, as I'm sure you already know. Tops grades in her lessons, exceptional confidence and kindness..." Dumbledore started to sort papers on his desk as he took a seat at said desk, "With those wonderful qualities, it's no wonder why she is one of the most perceptive students residing here at Hogwarts."

Minerva stared unmoving at the Headmaster, curious as to his point. When times like this came upon those who encounter said Headmaster, the best thing to do was listen carefully.

"Working with children really is an interesting part of life…you're learning while they learn. I've simply conducted a tiny experiment with Miss Evans…I gave her a simpler solution to her problems, curious as to what she would believe. The harder one, or the simpler one…she chose the simpler."

"But, Albus do you know the harder solution?" inquired McGonagall. She, along with every other teacher at Hogwarts was desperately curious about what really happened between Lily and the Unforgivable Curse. It seemed that Hogwarts wasn't solely a foundation of student gossip, but educator gossip as well.

"I daresay I do not, Minerva," replied Dumbledore, glancing through a book of prophecies.

* * *

Later that night, Dumbledore sat at his office desk, writing diligently on a piece of parchment, with a brown owl waiting patiently by his side. Behind him, his window showed a bright, almost full, moon, surrounded by numerous twinkling stars. The breeze coming from the window flickered some of the candles lit variously around the room, giving off a cozy, calm atmosphere. The only sound in there was the consistent scratching of a quill on parchment, with the occasional 'hoot' from the owl. Of course, there was also the murmur of voices coming from some oil paintings hanging around his room.

The Headmaster finished the letter with the flourish of his signature, and placed his quill back into its proper place. He slowly picked up a small, manila envelope- just like the ones Hogwarts letters come in- and put his own letter into it. The owl hooted again and Dumbledore started to tie the letter to the animal's leg, whispering something to it. If owls could nod, that one would have right before it flew out the open window behind Dumbledore.

Suddenly, the murmur of voices seemed to have been getting louder. Though, unlike the paintings, the voices were coming from outside the Headmaster's office, and seemed to be getting gradually louder every second. Soon, someone from the other side of the office door knocked. With a flick of his wrist, Dumbledore's door swung slowly open and about eight or so teachers filed into his room, some bickering with one another, others seeming as calm as Dumbledore was.

With a small smile, and a twinkle in his eyes, Dumbledore stood up, and clapped his hands twice, gaining the room's attention. With a flourish of both his hands, his desk transfigured into a larger table with nine seats waiting to be sat upon. "Have a seat, professors," he said politely, taking the one at the head of the table. "I trust you know what the subject of this meeting is. You've all been doing what I've asked?"

"Albus, as I stated last time, I simply do not have time to look after a bunch of gallivanting trouble-makers," began Professor Zimmermen, the Potions professor tersely.

Dumbledore looked at him over the top of his glasses. Professor Tallow, the Herbology professor, saved him the trouble of replying by saying, "If we don't look after them now, Jacob, there will be an even bigger mess than there already is."

"Who knows what could happen next if we don't monitor them," Professor Flitwick squeaked in agreement.

"I've been watching these students for two days now, Albus, and absolutely nothing out of the ordinary has happened. No wandless magic, no violent tempers-though this lot seems to have taken quite a liking to horsing around, "Professor Kettleburn chimed in.

"There, see," Professor Zimmermen exclaimed, letting his cruel, careless face disappear for a moment as he gazed at Kettleburn with slight respect, "nothing out of the ordinary. Whatever happened with Miss Evans the other day was simply…nothing. She and the others show no potential of manifesting anything of extraordinary nature. There's simply no point of observe those five anymore."

"As I seem to recall," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye, "there was nothing in my orders to keep an eye out for any strange occurrences. At the present moment, the only thing I want you all to worry about is making sure Misters Potter, Black, Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ms. Evans don't come across any danger. I'm sure it's no mystery, seeing as how every student in the entire school has noticed, those five are prime targets for Voldemort," he concluded, completely ignoring winces and slight shrieks from some professors upon hearing that dreadful name.

The room was completely silent for a minute, no one seeming to come up with anything worth saying. Dumbledore only smiled slightly at the more pale faces. Just as Professor Dixon, the Astronomy teacher, opened her mouth to say something, a few 'hoots' came from outside Dumbledore's office window. Everyone turned and Professor Dixon's mouth shut.

A white owl swooped in the window, carrying a letter. The creature seemed to shudder and hoot again. Dumbledore's smile widened and he stood up. Turning to face the professors, he said simply, "That will be all for now. Thank you Professors." With a swoosh of his hand, the door to his office opened slowly once more. One by one the professors left, all staring curiously at the white owl. McGonagall opened her mouth and Dumbledore raised a hand to prevent her from speaking, "All will be explained in time, dear Minerva."

Pursing her lips, McGonagall reluctantly left the office, staring back at the white owl like her fellow teachers. Chuckling slightly, Dumbledore turned to face the owl and grabbed the letter from it. He had some unfinished business to attend to.

* * *

The following day, Remus left for the Hospital Wing again. James, Sirius, and Peter had slept in late, regardless of the fact that it was a Wednesday and they had missed two of their classes. Of course, anyone who knew about the sensitive situation that came up every single month would have understood. James, Sirius, and Peter needed the extra sleep; they'd be up all night come tomorrow. When it came to helping friends, there should be no limitations. Seeing as how Lily had missed her chance at becoming Animagus, she had no plausible reason to skip classes (though, even with a plausible reason, she still wouldn't have done it.)

So, Lily directed her helpfulness of these incidences to taking great notes for her friends…as well as coming up with brilliant and creative excuses to give the professors about her friends' and boyfriend's absences. Although, this time, coming up with good excuses seemed rather difficult compared to previous times. Something was going on with the professors, it was obvious. That day in Charms, Lily supplied Flitwick with a valid (or in her case, it was considered valid) excuse about the three of them coming down with a nasty cold due to the recent rainstorm they had gallivanted in a few nights ago- Lily never had to give excuses for Remus; the administration already knew. This time, though, Flitwick almost seemed frantic when he didn't see the boys in his class, and Lily's explanations didn't seem to suffice.

But, Flitwick, seeing no reason why he shouldn't trust his number one sixth year pupil, reluctantly began the lesson, leaving Lily to mull over his reactions with confusion. Why did he seem so nervous? He had always bought her excuses with no doubt. Why was this time any different?

By the time the lesson had ended and everyone was striding off toward the door in dull anticipation for their next class, Lily was still bewildered. In fact, she was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice a growing snag from the seam of her book bag. She was quite surprised when the entire bottom of said bag split right in the middle of the corridor. With a sigh, she rolled her eyes slightly and bent down to retrieve all of her fallen quills, parchments, ink cases, and textbooks. She politely shooed away the offers to help from her various peers and acquaintances. No need to cause the tardiness of someone else too, seeing as how she wouldn't be making it to Potions anytime soon.

Just as she was reaching over to grab a lone piece of parchment with tons a tons of tiny print on it, Lily's hand brushed against something else. She paused, and then moved aside some concealing objects that hid her target. There is was. The locket Sirius had given her for her twelfth birthday…the locket that had caused a great amount of danger to her and her friends just a few short months ago.

She hadn't thrown it away like Headmaster Dumbledore had suggested. But she never again wore it around her neck. If Voldemort had found out she still had this…who knows how that might work out to his advantage. Since Lily had been close to unconsciousness when she heard the finer details Dumbledore had left out when he explained it all to her, Lily wasn't completely sure what Voldemort would plan if he knew of her continual possession of it.

She didn't know why she had kept it. Maybe it was because up until the day after Dumbledore had explained all that had happened to them, Lily had never once taken it off. Somehow, it had become secondnature to just put it on…but now Lily didn't feel comfortable with doing that. The next best thing was carrying it around with her everywhere, just not on her.

By the time Lily had gathers all her stuff to her, and she had placed a fixing charm on her book bag, the crowd in the corridor she was in had dispersed, leaving only she and her bag. Biting her lip as shechecked her muggle wrist-watch, Lily stood up slowly. Swinging the bag over her shoulders, she jumped in surprise and fright a few bright flickers of light lit up the corridors followed momentarily after byenormous cackles of thunder. What happened to lovely, sunny weather around here? She'd been back to school for close to a month now, and almost every day, a rainstorm occurred.

Mulling over the fact that her stomach felt as though she were going at an amazing speed down a rollercoaster, Lily moved her feet quickly, wanting to get out of the incredibly spooky corridor and into the Potions classroom as soon as possible. Suddenly, she heard noises, sort of like footsteps, from behind her. Not ceasing her quick strides, Lily looked over her shoulder, brows furrowing when she saw no one there.

Adjusting her bag on her shoulders a little unnervingly, Lily unconsciously quickened her pace. She was only a few feet away from rounding a corner when she heard the noise again. Again, she repeated her actions of looking over her shoulder while all but jogging. And, again, she saw no one there.

A thought filled her head at that moment. Now, fully stopping, Lily turned all the way around and said loudly and defiantly, "Peeves. You stop that right now!" That had to be the answer. Peeves. He was only trying to scare her.

Though, as the minutes passed slowly, with Lily only moving her gaze around the long, dark hall, Peeves had not come into sight…

It wasn't Peeves. If it were, he would have shown himself immediately after Lily had ordered him to. If there was one thing you could count on about the annoying little poltergeist, it was that he loved attention. If he was recognized as the purpose of a prank or annoyance, he would have gladly accepted his scolding.

If it wasn't Peeves, maybe it was another ghost playing a trick on her. Peeves wasn't the only ghost to cause trouble. "Nick!" Lily called out hopefully. No one answered. "Bloody Baron!" she called out after a few minutes. Swallowing, Lily turned back around, keeping her gaze on the corridor walls. Maybe she was just being paranoid. After all, it wasn't everyday she was alone in a dark corridor, hearing strange noises. If she was in a dark corridor at all, she usually had one of the Marauders there with her.

Again, she heard those unsettling noises. Not caring at all now if she was being foolish or not, Lily started running. Too many horrible things have happened in this castle for her not to be frightened. Her hair blew against her face and she held onto the straps of her bag to keep it from falling off. The footsteps only seemed to intensify.

Lily was on the verge of tears, her heart beating wildly in her chest not only from the running, but from sheer terror. What if it was Voldemort or one of his Death Eaters.

Just a few more halls…then she'd finally be at the Potions room. Just a few more halls.

Lily just rounded a corner when she bumped into something. She let out a terrified shriek. The unknown obstacle grasped her wrists and Lily screamed even louder, her face twisted into a horrified expression, thrashing around, trying to getaway. Tears flooded her eyes, blurring her vision.

Through all her screaming, Lily heard one small, distinct, comforting voice. "Lily. Lily, calm down. What's wrong?"

She calmed significantly. Opening her eyes, she blinked back the tears and looked at her wrists. Two hands were gently engulfed around them…two familiar hands. Her eyes traveled upward and she found herself staring into the brown eyes of her boyfriend.

"James," she whispered, calming all the way down.

"What was with that bloody fit, Lily?" Sirius asked with wide eyes. He'd never seen her loose it that way. Lily turned her gaze past James' shoulders, spotting her two tired looking illegal animagi friends.

She looked over at Peter for a minute before turning to look over her shoulder, James' hands still wrapped around her wrists. Finally, she replied shakily, "Ever feel like you're being watched?" Seeing James' brows furrowing, she went on, "Or followed?"

James stared at her, finally letting go of her wrists to move his hands up to the sides of her face. "What are you talking about, love?"

Lily wiggled out of his grasp, flailing her arms to the empty corridor behind her. "Just now…I heard footsteps…but I never saw anyone!" To add a dramatic touch, lightning struck at that moment followed closely by a loud boom of thunder. Lily jumped, almost loosing her balance from the heavy loaded bag on her back. James reached out and helped steady her. Sirius walked a little ways away from them, one of his hands hidden in the depths of his robes, no doubt gripping his wand cautiously. Peter stared curiously around him, more confident than he would have been standing alone in a corridor like Lily had just done.

James gave her a look before mimicking Sirius' actions and inspecting the corridor. Lily receded up against the stone wall, her bag preventing her back to touch said wall. She drew her arms up to hug her torso, shivering uneasily. She and Peter had a slightly tense staring contest while waiting for the two others to return.

After a few minutes, both James and Sirius returned, not showing any signs of coming across anything unusual.

"There's no one in this passage, Flower," Sirius said with a calm shrug. Lily swallowed and nodded wordlessly.

James chimed in softly, "You were probably just imagining things," he took a long look around the setting around them and continued with a sigh, "And in a corridor…completely alone…a huge thunderstorm…" he turned back to Lily, "No wonder you were frightened."

Lily, not looking at any of them in the eye, said quietly, "What if it was Voldemort."

Sirius immediately replied, comfortingly, "I'm sure Dumbledore's placed tons of charms around here to keep him out."

"What about his Death Eaters? Lily asked, staring blankly at a crack on the stonewall across from her.

"Them, too," Sirius quickly answered.

Her eyes abruptly snapped up to his gaze, "He couldn't keep Malfoy out."

James shifted uncomfortably while Sirius coughed slightly, grinding his feet on the ground. Peter was looking between the two of them as though silently pleading one of them to come up with an answer and a reassuring word.

"Come on," James said, changing the subject, "Why don't we head down to the kitchens, seeing as how we're all already twenty minutes late for Potions anyway."

Lily gave him a shaky smile. Sirius and James exchanged looks before James moved towards Lily, reaching a hand out to her. Lily dropped her arms down to her side. She jumped a foot into the air and Peter gave a slight shriek when another clap of thunder shook them. James closed the distance between him and Lily, engulfing her hand in his reassuringly. Behind the two of them, Sirius could be heard quietly criticizing Peter to be a man.

* * *

It turns out that James had been right all along, and Lily had been overreacting. Not a single mysterious incident happened for quite some time. In fact, things had been incredibly boring. Rumors had grown dull; classes were the same. Though, James and Cassandra were always quite interesting when they received issues of the Daily Prophet. One never would have guessed, but the two of them had something in common besides their fathers working together: They shared an immense dislike for the new, unbelievably popular minister of magic. Continually, they would rant and rave like spoiled children when reading about the ministry's latest actions… Well, Cassandra would rant like a spoiled child and James would object quite loudly and knowledgably to anyone that would listen. Usually, Lily got stuck with that job seeing as how every other person had given up trying to calm him down when he was in that mood.

Sitting in the Great Hall, the five friends watched as Flitwick and a few other teachers decorated the large hall with Christmas décor. To normal students, this brought much joy and glee. To Lily, every time she saw Professor Tallow flick her wand and light some candles on the trees, it was like someone had lifted a ten pound weight on her heart. This would be the first Christmas in six years Lily wouldn't be spending with the Potters.

A familiar squawk filled her ears and the other occupants in the Hall. The arrival of the post that day began with a large, white owl swooping in through the ceiling. The creature's color of coating matched the sparkling snowflakes enchantingly falling from the ceiling. Other owls fluttered in, the darker colored ones sporting contrasting white flakes hooked onto their feathers.

One of these said brown owls headed in the Marauders' direction. Lily's heart fell as the owl dropped a crisp, white envelope on top of the textbook propped open in front of her.

"Ah," James said in a fake elated voice, wrapping an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders, "Another delightful letter from Auntie Catherine."

He winced as Lily elbowed him in the ribs while she grabbed the letter. Remus and Peter looked up from their chess game and Sirius tore his gaze away from a brunette from Ravenclaw. Lily opened the envelope and spread the letter onto the table, taking a quick scan of it. The boys stared at her curiously until she finally finished the letter, rolling her eyes.

"Go on, then, Lily," urged Peter with hungry, curious eyes, "Read it out loud."

Sighing, Lily flicked her hand to James, indicating him to read it. She planted her chin under her hands and leaned onto the table, looking over at a fully decorated tree.

Shrugging, James took his arm from around her shoulder and picked up the letter, cleared his throat dramatically.

"Dear Lily," he began, comically giving them a toothy grin similar to Lockhart's prized smile, "Your uncle and I have discussed it thoroughly, and we've decided that you shall take a taxi to the estate. We're both are too busy to come and pick you up on that day, seeing as how your uncle will be retrieving your grandparents and cousins from the airport that same day.

As stated in the last letter, we would all very much appreciate it if you left your "supplies" at that "school" of yours. Bring only the necessities and do try to appear presentable upon your arrival. Grandmum Maratha has expressed her wishes to see your potentially beautiful red hair in a proper style dissimilar to those horrid braids.

Best wishes until your arrival,

Aunt Catherine."

James dropped the letter, took out his wand, pointed said wand at the letter, and muttered a spell. Instantly, the letter turned into a dungbomb. Carelessly, he threw it over his shoulder.

Lily fingered her red locks, her face scrunched up into a pout. "I haven't wore those braids since I was nine."

James patted her shoulder and said with a cute grin, "And they certainly were the cutest things, those braids were."

"She really is a lovely woman, isn't she?" stated Sirius, he and the rest completely ignoring the newest defined stench coming from the Slytherin table.

Amidst the shouts and protests of the Slytherins, Lily 'humph'd and crossed her arms over her chest, leaning into James' embrace once more.

* * *

A/N: Hey, surprised to hear from me again, eh? As some of you may have wondered, no I have not died. I actually have no plausible excuse for such the long wait other than the fact that I've been working on my website...that's right! I, LilyPrincess (A.K.A: Leslee), have built a website. It's not entirely finished, but it's got a pretty good start. So, check it out if you'd like. 

Also, I feel the need to do a bit of advertising for a friend of mine. Any of you readers out there interested in a role playing game? The link to the site will be up in my profile soon, so feel free to check it out! I've already got three characters there, so go ahead and join as well. I think it'll be fun.


	42. Leaving for Christmas

1The days leading up to Christmas break passed by like a whisper- discreet, unnoticeable. It was certain that no one residing within Hogwarts' walls paid much attention to anything other than their dreams and thoughts of the day they wouldn't be forced, much less expected, to work on their homework. Luckily, their pile of work hadn't been increased too much before the holidays- the professors could be rather lazy about their work with the approaching Christmas season as well.

Finally, the start of break came with a clear, blue sky and a bright sunlight covering the frosted castle. The vigor of the blazing sun, though, could not penetrate through the thick layer of bitter cold keeping the frost sticking to each pointy edging of every twig making up the thousands of trees covering Hogwarts' grounds.

The castle was the star of a picturesque scene of winter wonder. With the stubborn crystal flakes of ice staying attached to the castle's stony exterior, and the sunlight able to at least shine through the thick layer of cold, each little flake sparkled like glitter. The air was calm; no noise, no wind. No one would dare think that with such a soothing exterior, Hogwarts' interior would be the source of absolute chaos.

"Move out of the bloody way, you wanker!"

"Sirius!" Remus hissed to his friend, dodging a group of gaggling fifth year Ravenclaws that were obviously staying at the castle that winter break. One of the professors keeping watch of the corridors started to search the crowds for the one responsible for using such language in the corridor.

Lily pushed Sirius' head down as the five friends streamed through the bustle, discreetly passing by the professor. "Lily, lay off the hair!" Sirius exclaimed, flustered and indignant as he pushed his head against Lily's hand to stand upright once more. He swept his hands around his robe in search for a mirror. Coming across one in his left interior pocket, he held it up to himself and began to fuss with his already immaculate hair.

"Serves you right," James murmured to Sirius, "Professor Rastolt was standing not three meters away, Padfoot."

"That old bloke couldn't spot an animagus if the animal transformed right before his useless eyes, James," Sirius let out a bark of laughter that instantly died in his throat upon losing his reflection in the mirror he still had been gazing in.

"Ah, stupid two-way mirror," Sirius grumbled. He looked up and over at James before saying, "Oy, James, take your mirror out of your book bag and hold it up to me."

James turned his head, giving him a weird look. "How in blazes did you know I had the mirror in my book bag?"

"Easy, I knicked one of Lily's bras and planted them in your bag for a joke," Sirius grinned lopsidedly as he held up the mirror, showing only a bundle of red silky fabric. "And that bra's all I'm seeing...not that I'm complaining."

Lily's jaw dropped indignantly as James and Remus' faces both turned bright red. Peter was off to Sirius' side attempting to sneak a peak of the mirror.

"Sirius, you prat!" Lily exclaimed loudly, ducking her head as another one of the professors watching the corridor searched for the source of the yell. Once the coast was clear, Lily straightened up and helped James open his book bag. The frantic movements were causing a bit more attention on the two as Lily seized her bra from the bag amidst childish wolf calls from some of the students watching as they all continued along to walk out the entrance hall into the nippy air outside. Blushing as red as the fabric she was holding, Lily hurriedly forced it into her bag. James threw Sirius the mirror he had taken out of his bag during Lily's embarrassment.

Lily shot Sirius a violent glare as James started to laugh along with Sirius, Remus and Peter trying but failing to hold back a few sputters of chuckles. James placed an arm around Lily's shoulders, leaning over to kiss the top of her head as she crossed her arms indignantly.

"Bloody prat," she murmured, still glaring at Sirius as he shot her a charming smile. "That grin won't work on me, Black," she snapped only half angered.

Sirius moseyed over to Lily's side, switching places with Remus. He took her hand and swung it back and forth, "C'mon Lily, this kind of embarrassment should be relatively familiar to you."

James and Sirius, with one of their hands each holding on to Lily's, hoisted her first into a horseless carriage, following her in with Remus and Peter bringing in the rear.

"Though, I must say, I never imaged red silk to be your cup of tea," Sirius teasingly remarked. Accompanied with the slam the shutting door made was Lily's hand connecting loudly with Sirius' cheek, following by fits of laughter.

"You realize, don't you, that this is going to be the worst two weeks of my life," Lily's dramatic proclamation was met by a half hug courtesy James, who was playing chess one-handed with Remus. As the train hurled closer to London, the air grew colder and colder, creating a crystallized layer over the cabin window the five were currently residing in.

"Don't look at it like that, Lily," Sirius spoke through a full mouth, in the middle of a contest with Peter regarding who could fit the most chocolate frogs into their mouth. It was a hard attempt with the jumping those little faux amphibians did.

Lily looked up from the chessboard over to Sirius as he stuffed another frog into his mouth, quickly closing it to let the frog get it's one good jump out of its fake system. Once he was sure it was safe, Sirius opened his mouth and slurped out, "If you look at it that way," Lily flinched as a drop of chocolate/spit hit her cheek and disgustedly wiped it away, "You'll be too depressed to even get off the train when we-," his words were cut off by the slowing of the train coming into the station.

"Looks like we're here," Remus said. He moved his king quickly to the right and announced as he stood, "Checkmate, Prongs."

James took a few moments to regard the board with frustration, having never once beaten Remus at a game.

"James," Lily pulled James back to the presence. He turned his head up to Lily's.

"Wha...oh!" Shooting up out of his seat, the other three guys walked out of the cabin after clapping their hands on James' shoulder, and kissing Lily's cheek, by means of farewells.

"Don't fret, Lily," Remus said before he disappeared out of the compartment, "These two weeks will go by faster than you think they will. Have a happy Christmas." With that, they were off.

James turned to grab both his and Lily's bags, pulling them out of the compartment above them. Turning back to her, he handed the brown bag to Lily and said, "Well, I guess this is it."

Lily forced a smile and slowly nodded. James quickly pushed the straps of his bag over his shoulders and then used his free hands to cup Lily's face, his right thumb pushing aside a lock of hair caught in her eyelashes. "Don't worry about it. Like Remus said, these two weeks will go by like a game of chess between Moony and Wormtail- like a flash." Lily's smile turned genuine for a moment as she lightly giggled for a second.

James used his fingers to raise her chin as he brought his lips down gently to hers. After a few dazzling moments, he pulled away, grinning lopsidedly at her. Helping her with her book bag, he made to walk out of the compartment, waving lovingly before he rounded the corner.

Before he was completely gone, Lily quickly rushed over to him and turned him completely around by the shoulders. James let out a small exclamation of shock, instantly silencing when Lily's lips crashed against his own fiercely. He blinked for a few moments before quickly getting in to the kiss, his hands holding her tightly in a warm embrace.

With Lily's fingers lightly grazing through his already tousled hair, she pulled away, breathless. James stared down at her with bright, shining eyes, his lips red from Lily's lipstick, and swollen from their passionate kiss.

"Happy Christmas, James," she whispered, pulling away.

"Happy Christmas, Lily," James responded after snapping himself out of his dreamy trance. Pecking her cheek lightly, he turned again and finally walked out of the compartment, down the hall, and out of the train. Lily stayed for a few moments, just looking around at the compartment, down at the seats not fifteen minutes prior had held her friends.

With a sigh, Lily reluctantly walked out of the train. This would be a long break.

"Tha'll be....fif'y poun's ma'am," came the voice from the cab driver as he turned in his seat to leer creepily back at Lily in her seat. It took all her willpower not to shudder as she stared at him for a moment before reaching in to the pocket of her muggle coat to get out the correct amount of muggle currency. She hadn't dealt with that kind of money for over six years, but it hadn't taken long for her to get into the hang of it once more. She already had to use change on a payphone to call her aunt after finding no one waiting to pick her up at the station. It was safe to say she was extremely disappointed, but not too surprised, to hear that "no one could be spared that morning to drive all the way out to the train station" to pick her up...at least, that's what her aunt had told her.

So, there she was, after having called up a taxi cab to take her all forty miles south of the station to her aunt's estate. And now, she had to use her own money to pay for her ride there as well. Placing the money into the driver's hand, careful not to touch the dry, peeling skin at all, Lily forced a polite smile and said a clear, "Thank you."

"M' pleasure, miss," the middle-aged, beer-bellied man said as he let his own toothless grin respond to Lily's. He continued to leer at her as she started to fidget uncomfortably under his gaze. "Woul' you like meh t' get your bags, miss?"

"No, thanks, I've got them," Lily said quickly, grabbing her bags and opening the door. "Thanks again." Before he could say any more, she shut the door and walked up the stairs to the front entrance of her aunt and uncle's manor.

Coming up to the large, mahogany door twice her length in height, Lily dropped her bags and just stood there for a moment, hearing the sound of the taxi cab riding further and further away from the estate...Lucky pervert.

Staring at the door, Lily sighed. Biting her lip, she brought her hand up and forced her index finger to push the doorbell. Her heart dropped to her stomach, the deep bells of the doorbell ringing through her ears as she waited for someone to let her in.

A/N: I know, I know. And before you can say anything, just keep in mind that I _did_ update, no matter how long it took, I _did_ do it. Hope ya'll don't hate me too much!


	43. Meet the Family

The door swung open, screeching horribly. Slowly, Lily brought her eyes up to meet the indifferent, distant face of Lawrence, a typical butler in her relative's mansion. With greying hair– balding, at that– deep wrinkles littering his leathery, pale, face, and a lanky, almost too thin body, Lawrence was somewhat of an overworked grandfather. Funnily enough, this no-emotion man standing before her in his trademark butler, black suite attire, was more of a grandfather to her than her legal one.

A hint of a smile reached his thin lips as he peered down at her. "Miss Lillian," he nodded his head deeply. Lawrence was possibly the only person in that home than showed her even the slightest sign of respect.

She allowed a small smile to taint her nervous face, "Hello Lawrence," she said, swallowing as she stared past his form to peer indoors. Lawrence moved aside, and Lily bent down to pick up half of her luggage, letting Lawrence take the other half. Stepping in to her relatives' cold, hard manor, memories flooded her, almost violent enough to knock her straight off her feet. Past summers, holidays, and casual sleep overs with her devious, extremely unfriendly cousin brought her no comfort in her situation thus far. Betty and Sue, twin girls five years her senior, and cousins from hell, were the reasons Lily rarely went swimming. Jack and Albert were always volunteering Lily as their third in wrestling tournaments. Some of the worst times of her life, Lily spent hiding from her cousins in this estate.

With a sigh, Lily stopped at the bottom of the stairway leading up into the parlor— where her aunt was certainly waiting to begin a traditional criticizing session, with Lily as the opponent.

"They're all up there, aren't they?" asked Lily, dread filling her stomach.

Lawrence nodded flatly; the poor man should have left her aunt's employment decades ago. Unfortunately, as bitter and horrid as Aunt Catherine was, she gave her workers incredible benefits and very ample pay.

"Yes, Miss," answered the old butler. In a whisper, he murmured, "Every bloody one of them."

Only just hearing his last words, Lily's lips quirked slightly into a small smile. With another sigh, she lifted her bags up again and began climbing the steps, "Best to get it over with quickly, then."

* * *

"– And, Lily, did not I tell you to do well with your hair? Honestly, you look as though you are trying to appear half your age," soothed Aunt Catherine, with a sinister look in her eye. Relatives in the room glared disapprovingly in Lily's direction as said girl fought a blush of embarrassment. 

Fingering her locks, Lily murmured, "You said no pigtails, Aunt Catherine." Lily took a sideways glance into the mirror to her left. No pigtails. Only a green head band.

"You look like you're five," hissed Betty, mockingly.

"That's just the way she looks, Betty," laughed Sue, "She never was exactly mature, now, was she?"

"I should think not," chimed in Albert, his voice nasally and snobbish, "after witnessing Lily rolling about in the mud three winters ago."

"Filthy, it was," Jack wrinkled his nose in disgust, flopping down on the couch near Lily. He stared straight at her and said bluntly, "You looked like a right good pig, Lily."

Lily pursed her lips, but otherwise kept silent. It was best to just let them take their turns at mocking her. That way, she could retreat to her room quicker.

Grandmum Martha stepped forward, staring at every inch of Lily, her beady eyes narrowed as she searched for the slightest flaw. "I see they don't feed you at that "school" of yours, eh? You're sickly skinny." She shook her head, "Why couldn't you be more like Petunia. Now, that Petunia has done herself well. Courting a nice young gentlemen, Vernon Dursley. He's quite a charming boy, that Vernon is."

"Petunia's coming around three o'clock today, Lily," informed Betty, almost squealing in delight, "With her _charming_ boyfriend."

"Do _you_ have a boyfriend, Lily," asked Sue innocently, a small smirk forming on her lips, "No," she continued before Lily could get a word in edgewise, "I don't suppose you do."

"Always was shy with the boys, weren't you?" Aunt Catherine asked, sniffing disdainfully as she walked across the room to pour herself a small glass of brandy.

"I don't think so, judging by her past," cut in Jack.

"Yes, she always did beg to let her wrestle with us," seconded Albert.

"Gave her a few broken bones, if I recall correctly," Grandpa William spoke for the first time since she arrived.

"Quite a few, yes," confirmed Aunt Catherine, "I recall having to be dragged away from my sewing to take her to the hospital."

"Such rowdy behavior," Grandmum Martha made a small 'tisk' noise, "I do hope she was never awarded afterwards for her lack of discipline."

"Of course not, Mum," snapped her Aunt, "she was sent to her room for the rest of her stay."

"Lunch is ready," her uncle appeared in the room, breaking the steady stream of subtle insults. Lily let out a quiet breath she had been holding and reluctantly followed her family into the dining room.

* * *

"Oh, Petunia, you look radiant!" gushed Betty. 

"You're hair! Oh, you're letting grow long," interrupted Sue.

"It's very complimentary to your face, Petunia," nodded Betty.

"Why, thank you Betty," Petunia glowed with pleasure, "And you, too, Sue."

"Hello Petunia," Lily called, coming across the room to greet her sister. At least, in Petunia, Lily may find an ally.

Petunia paused her actions of pulling her snow-sprinkled coat off and slowly turned to face her sister. The two hadn't seen each other since their parents death. And, judging by the icy look Petunia was throwing her way, Lily could see that another twenty year absence from Petunia's life would be welcome wholeheartedly.

"Lily," Petunia acknowledge through gritted teeth, "Coming to spend Christmas with the family, are you?"

"Had to," said Lily before she could stop herself.

"What an ungrateful little leech," squealed Betty. Instantly, Lily realized her mistake.

"I didn't mean it like–," attempted Lily, but was instantly cut off by five separate voices condemning her for her insolence.

"Go to your room!" Aunt Catherine's voice triumphed over the rest of her cousins' and grandparents'.

Inwardly sighing— mostly out of relief— Lily took one last look at Petunia's lemony face and left just as the door opened once more and a booming voice greeted the rest.

"Oh Vernon, you're such a strapping, young–," Aunt Catherine's voice gradually faded, cutting off completely when Lily closed her door and took to the appreciative seclusion and peace.

* * *

A/N: sorry it's so short, everyone. I hope it got the point across that her family sucks. Anyways, I have to confess this update was for a reason. I'm headmistress of a harry potter-like role playing site. We desperately need people, so if any of you are interested, check out 

www. geocities. com/ headmaster johnston /index. com

(without the spaces in between, of course)


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